A former coworker told The New York Post that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old arrested in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, once boasted about making a 450-yard shot while working on an electrical job in St. George, Utah.
Robinson was arrested after authorities say he fired a single, fatal shot from the top of the Losee Center Building at Utah Valley University, roughly 200 yards from where Kirk was seated at a campus event attended by about 3,000 people. Officials have said Robinson acted alone and faces aggravated murder charges.
The former coworker, a 25-year-old electrician who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post in an interview that Robinson, a first-year electrician on a new apartment complex in 2023, was generally quiet on the job and spoke up mainly when the topic turned to guns. "Right after Black Friday, I had just got done working and I was showing my supervisor the new pistol I bought," the man recalled. "We were out by the trucks, and then Tyler and another guy came over and we were all talking about what kinds of guns we were gonna get or had bought, and they started talking about their longest shots. Tyler said he made a 450 yard shot."
The coworker said Robinson rarely showed emotion and often kept to himself. "He never really showed much emotion. He was just kind of, I don't know, blank? He was just really quiet," the man said. He also described a physical mannerism he said he noticed: "Tyler walked around with clenched fists all the time — like, super hard clenched fists... Even in the security footage from UVU, you can see he's got his fists clenched tight."
The coworker said he was shocked when news of the shooting broke and that Robinson was not the last person he would have suspected. He said he called a contact at the third-party contractor on the project, Wilde Electric, and later tried Robinson's phone, which went straight to voicemail.
Robinson was working for Washington County-based High Output Electric at the time, the coworker said, and both companies had been contracted to wire the new apartment complex by Wilde Electric. Shane Bennett, the owner of High Output Electric, told The Post Robinson worked for the company until late 2023 but could not recall whether Robinson quit or was let go. The owner of Wilde Electric, Terry Wilde, could not be reached for comment, according to the account.
Authorities have described the shooting as a targeted act. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the killing a "political assassination" and said Robinson "was a person who was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology," comments that underscore the political attention surrounding the case.
Investigators have been piecing together Robinson's movements and motive since the shooting. Security footage played a role in identifying the person seen on the Losee Center Building roof, and officials have said evidence indicates the fatal shot was fired from that location. Local and federal authorities are continuing their investigation, and prosecutors have moved to charge Robinson with aggravated murder, authorities said.
The shooting has prompted national attention because of Charlie Kirk's profile as the founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent conservative commentator. Law enforcement officials have said the event drew thousands of attendees and that Kirk was speaking under a pop-up tent on the campus when he was struck.
Friends and former coworkers described Robinson as a quiet, soft-spoken young man who avoided political discussions on the job. The coworker told The Post that most workers on the site held conservative views and that Robinson typically excused himself when politics came up, sometimes going into a back laundry room to sit and put in an earbud.
The investigation remains active and court proceedings are pending. Authorities have urged anyone with information about the shooting or Robinson's activities before the attack to come forward as they continue to assemble evidence and witness accounts.
