What we know so far about the Charlie Kirk shooting suspect

Authorities announced Friday that they had made an arrest in the shooting death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in the midst of rampant public speculation about the suspect’s identity.

“We got him,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, flanked by U.S. and state law enforcement officials, in the most significant update since the manhunt began nearly two days before.

The Republican governor identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, 22, who was arrested on multiple state felony charges: suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a weapon causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice.

Cox said the suspect had reached out to a relative, who then turned to authorities with information, saying he had confessed or implied he had carried out the shooting at a university event earlier this week.

Watch Friday’s update on the Kirk shooting in the player above.

President Donald Trump first announced the arrest during a Friday interview with “Fox & Friends,” saying “with a high degree of certainty” authorities had a suspect in custody.

The case has prompted tributes to Kirk’s influence in politics, renewed scrutiny of his incendiary comments and amplified concerns over rising political violence.

At the briefing, Cox suggested Americans must choose whether Kirk’s death becomes “the end of a dark chapter in our history or the beginning of a darker chapter.”

“This is our moment: Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp? And again, it’s a choice. It’s a choice. And every one of us gets to make that choice,” he said.

Here’s the latest on what we know.

What do we know about the suspect?

A TV monitor displays a picture of Tyler Robinson, suspected of killing Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The investigation is ongoing but authorities believe the suspected shooter acted alone, according to the governor.

Casings retrieved from the scene are believed to be connected to the shooting, including a fired casing that read, “notices bulges OWO what’s this?”

There were also three unfired casings, each with a different inscription:

• “Hey fascist! Catch!” with an up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols.
• “O bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao”
• “If you read this you are gay LMAO”

The inscriptions appear to be a hodgepodge of extremely online memes and gaming references.

A family member had told authorities that the suspect had “become more political in recent years,” Cox said.

Several media outlets have reported that Robinson, a Utah resident, was registered as an unaffiliated voter and also listed as an “inactive” voter.

It’s not yet known if or how he has described his political ideology.

The suspect has no prior criminal history, according to state and federal court records, the Associated Press reported.

Following the announcement of the arrest, USU confirmed in a statement that the suspect attended the school for one semester in 2021. A spokesperson confirmed to PBS News that he was a pre-engineering major and the coursework he took that semester was consistent with that major.

The Utah System of Higher Education also released a statement expanding on Robinson’s schooling history. The state public university system said he was a third-year student in Dixie Technical College’s electrical apprenticeship program and received concurrent enrollment credit through Utah Tech University as a high schooler.

Where and when was the suspect arrested?

A drone view shows the scene where right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, an ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah. Photo by Cheney Orr/Reuters

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed in Friday’s news conference that the suspect was arrested Thursday night at 10 p.m. local time after a 33-hour manhunt.

The arrest was made about 250 miles southwest of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where Kirk was killed, authorities said.

Authorities previously said Kirk was struck by a single shot in what Cox described as a “political assassination.”

Grainy videos released by authorities Thursday show a person running on the rooftop of a nearby building after the shooting, and then jumping down to the ground and fleeing the scene.

Several items were retrieved from a wooded area on the edge of the campus, where Kirk had been engaging students in an event related to his “American Comeback Tour.”

A police evidence marker sits at a wooded area, near the reported possible escape route of the shooter of Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University. Photo by Cheney Orr/Reuters

Cox said the suspect had sent several messages to a roommate over Discord, a messaging app. The messages stated a need to “retrieve a rifle from a drop point,” as well as leaving the weapon in a bush.

Investigators discovered a Mauser bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark-colored towel near the shooting site.

Discord confirmed to PBS News that the company identified an account associated with the suspect and removed it for “violating our off-platform behavior policy.”

“We strongly condemn violence of any kind, including political violence, and we will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement,” a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement, adding that the company is cooperating with authorities.

But Discord also said it “found no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence” on the platform, which appears to contradict the governor’s Friday account of certain planning details being sent.

“The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages,” the spokesperson wrote. “These were communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.”

PBS News has reached out to Cox’s office for clarification over how the suspect may have used Discord.

A grisly video that spread like wildfire

Watch the clip in the player above.

Kirk’s death has drawn bipartisan condemnation from both sides of the aisle, as well as polarized political rhetoric.

Authorities have not identified a motive for the shooting. Trump and his allies have blamed the “radical left” for the violence.

“The radicals on the left are the problem,” Trump, who’s survived two assassination attempts, said on “Fox & Friends” on Friday.

Political violence has also targeted Democratic politicians in recent months, such as the killing of Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in June.

Videos of the gory shooting were widely circulated on social media platforms and seen by millions.

“This is not good for us. It is not good to consume,” Cox said Friday, addressing the rapid proliferation of the video. “Social media is a cancer on our society right now.”