What to know about the suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) identified the suspect in the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old resident of Utah.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, we got him,” Cox said during a Friday morning press conference

Robinson was booked into the Utah County Jail. Charges have not yet been filed.

Law enforcement officials said they believe Robinson acted alone, but Cox emphasized that the investigation is “ongoing.”  

“We do not at this time have any information that would lead to any additional arrests,” the Utah governor said when asked if he expected additional arrests.

Here’s what we know so far about Robinson.

Who is Tyler Robinson?

The 22-year-old is not a student at Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place Wednesday, Cox said.

He is registered as an unaffiliated voter in Utah, with an address in Washington, Utah.

Cox said a family member of Robinson told authorities that Robinson “had become more political in recent years.”

The family member said Robinson had recently relayed at a dinner that Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was coming to speak at Utah Valley University. 

“They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate,” Cox told reporters. 

How was Robinson captured?

The governor said a family member of Robinson reached out to a family friend Thursday night, who then got in touch with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, saying that Robinson had “confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.” 

A source familiar with the matter told The Hill’s sister network NewsNation that the suspect in the shooting confessed to his father that he was the shooter; the father then told officials and secured his son until he was picked up by law enforcement.

Kirk’s suspected assassin was taken into custody in southern Utah near Washington, a source briefed on the matter told NewsNation’s Brian Entin. The suspect was on the FBI’s radar on Thursday and was identified through facial recognition investigative methods, the source added.

How did the suspect appear on campus?

Cox said investigators reviewed video footage from Utah Valley University, where Kirk was gunned down, showing that Robinson arrived on campus in a gray Dodge Challenger around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

He wore a plain maroon T-shirt, light-colored shorts, a black hat with a white logo and light-colored shoes, according to Cox, adding that when encountered by investigators in Washington County on Friday morning, Robinson wore a similar outfit.

“When he’s first spotted on campus, he has different clothing on, and then he changes clothing on the roof, and then changed back into that clothing at some point, so that when he was when he was apprehended, when he was arrested, the clothing matched the clothing he had on before the shooting,” the Utah governor said. 

What do investigators know about the weapon?

As part of the investigation, law enforcement officials talked to Robinson’s roommate, who presented them with Discord messages from the Robinson, Cox said. One of the messages said Robinson needed to get a rifle from a drop point and another talked about leaving the weapon in a bush. 

The messages also mentioned Robinson watching the area where the rifle was left and having wrapped the weapon in a towel. 

Investigators determined the rifle was a Mauser 98 .30-06 caliber with a scope mounted on top of it, Cox said. 

What do investigators know about the bullet casings?

The Utah governor confirmed that some bullet casings had inscriptions. One of the fired casings said “notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this?”

Three unfired casings found by investigators had inscriptions. The first one said, “Hey fascist!” Another unfired casing had the lyrics of the Italian folk song “Bella Ciao.” 

A third unfired casing read “if you read this, you are gay, lmao.”

What initial evidence did investigators have?

During the manhunt Thursday, law enforcement released a video of a person of interest, showing him running across the roof of the school’s campus, coming down the side of the building, making his way through the parking lot and heading toward a busy street. 

The suspect left “some palm impressions,” Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said Thursday night. 

“There’s some smudges in some places we’re looking to collect DNA. There’s a shoe imprint where we believe the suspect is clearly identified as wearing Converse tennis shoes,” Mason stated. 

Also on Thursday, officials published more still photos of the suspect, who wore a black long-sleeve shirt with an eagle and an American flag, blue jeans, a baseball cap and black sunglasses. 

As part of the probe, investigators analyzed imprints of a forearm, a palm and a shoe.

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