Friends of the man taken into custody in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk said he admitted responsibility in online messages shortly before his arrest, according to screenshots obtained by The Washington Post.
In a message posted on the Discord platform, a user identified as Tyler wrote, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all. it was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this,” the screenshots show. The disclosure, which The Washington Post published, was described by investigators as consistent with other Discord communications tied to the suspect.
Officials have said the suspect was taken into custody Thursday. The Washington Post report aligns with earlier statements from investigators that the suspect had been communicating on Discord after federal agents released surveillance photos of a person of interest. Messages reviewed by The New York Times show that shortly after the FBI released photos, the user joked that a “doppelganger” was trying to “get me in trouble,” and that a friend in a group chat of roughly 20 people responded, “Tyler killed Charlie!!!!”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) told reporters that a roommate shared Discord messages with authorities. According to Cox, someone using the name Tyler told roommates about “a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel.”
Law enforcement recovered a Mauser model 30-.06 caliber bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark towel in a wooded area near Utah Valley University, officials said. Authorities have not released a charging document publicly detailing counts against the suspect, and investigators have declined to provide a full timeline of how messages and physical evidence tied the suspect to the scene.
Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, was shot on the Utah Valley University campus in an attack that prompted a federal and local law enforcement response. The FBI released surveillance images earlier in the investigation seeking the public’s help in identifying a person of interest.
Friends’ screenshots and investigators’ statements indicate investigators were pursuing online communications as part of the probe. Messages from the Discord server suggest participants discussed the possibility of the suspect’s involvement before his arrest, and at least one roommate provided related communications to authorities, according to Gov. Cox.
Local and federal officials continue to investigate the shooting. Authorities have urged anyone with additional information about the incident or the suspect’s movements to come forward. Requests for comment from The Washington Post and The New York Times were not part of the reporting on the screenshots cited by friends of the suspect.