A suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University was arrested after a family member alerted authorities, officials said Friday.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox and federal agents identified the person taken into custody as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. The arrest followed a tip from a family member who told a family friend that Robinson had confessed, Cox said.
Surveillance video reviewed by investigators showed a vehicle believed to be the suspect’s arriving on the UVU campus at 8:29 a.m. local time on the morning of the shooting, Cox said. Authorities said the suspect arrived in a gray Dodge Challenger. Kirk, who was at the campus for an event, was shot in the neck on Wednesday and later died.
Investigators recovered what the FBI described as the suspected murder weapon — an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle with a scope — wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the university. Cox said casings recovered at the scene bore inscriptions that included the phrases "hey fascist! catch!", "bella ciao" and "if you read this, you are gay, LMAO." "Bella ciao" is an Italian phrase that translates as "goodbye beautiful" and is the title of a song associated with the Italian resistance during World War II.
Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith described the investigation as "vast, complicated and very, very fast paced" and said it had been "very taxing." FBI Director Kash Patel said federal agents arrived on scene about 16 minutes after the shooting and that forensic evidence had been recovered. Patel said the suspect was taken into custody at about 10 p.m. local time on Thursday after the FBI released grainy images of a person of interest and appealed to the public for help.
Cox said investigators had interviewed a family member who said Robinson had become more political in recent years and had referenced Kirk in a dinner conversation prior to Sept. 10. That family member told investigators Robinson said Kirk was "full of hate and spreading hate," the governor said. Investigators also interviewed a roommate who produced messages from an account named "Tyler" on the messaging app Discord. Those messages reportedly referenced retrieving a rifle from a "drop point" and described the rifle being left in a bush wrapped in a towel.
President Donald Trump, who earlier announced on the Fox & Friends program that Kirk had died, told the show on Friday that "I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him" and that the suspect was "in custody." Trump said a person close to the suspect turned him in.
Police said another person was detained immediately after the shooting and later determined not to be the gunman, and that a separate individual had been questioned and released. Cox said he was not aware of any potential further arrests in the investigation.
Video and social media footage from the campus circulated widely after the shooting, prompting a rapid public and law enforcement response. Investigators had asked for the public's assistance in identifying the person shown in released photos and video, citing distinctive clothing including a long-sleeved black top with an American flag and an eagle, sunglasses and Converse shoes.
Authorities said the investigation remains active and that additional forensic work and interviews are ongoing. Officials urged anyone with further information to come forward as they continue to piece together the timeline and motives leading to Kirk's death.
