FBI Director Kash Patel on Friday announced that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Patel said the suspect was taken into custody at 10 pm local time on Thursday in Utah, just 33 hours after the killing, calling the progress “historic.”
“In less than 36 hours – 33 to be precise – thanks to the full weight of the federal government and leading out with the partners here in the state of Utah and Gov. Cox, the suspect was apprehended in historic time period,” Patel told reporters. He added that forensic evidence has already been evaluated and more than 11,000 leads have been checked.
The arrest comes after Kirk was shot on Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem. Officials described it as a targeted attack. Kirk later died in hospital. A Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle was recovered wrapped in a towel in nearby woods, with one spent cartridge in the chamber and three rounds loaded in the magazine.
Timeline of the investigation Wednesday, September 10:
Messages on bullet casings
Utah governor Spencer Cox revealed disturbing details about the evidence. He said investigators found a rifle wrapped in a towel and bullet casings engraved with messages. One fired casing read: “notices bulges OWO what’s this?” Three unfired casings carried other inscriptions: “hey fascist! catch!”, “oh bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao,” and “if you read this you are gay lmao.”
“Bella ciao” is an Italian folk song famously associated with resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II.
Cox said, “We got him. On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.”
How the suspect was caught: Family tip-off and voluntary surrender Authorities said the breakthrough in the Charlie Kirk murder case came from within the suspect’s own family. Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed that Tyler Robinson, 22, was identified after a family member passed on crucial information. “On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident,” Cox said during a press briefing.
According to CNN, Robinson voluntarily surrendered at a police station soon after his family pushed him to come forward. He reportedly walked into headquarters without resistance and admitted to being involved. Law enforcement officials said his surrender helped avert what could have been an extended manhunt across Utah.
The FBI has since confirmed that the firearm used in the shooting, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, was recovered near the crime scene shortly after his arrest.
Trump reacts, credits family and ‘person of faith’
US President Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News, said: “Someone very close to him turned him in. Essentially somebody that was very close to him turned him in. That happens when you have some of those good shots,” referring to the FBI’s release of clear images of the suspect a day earlier. Trump further revealed that Robinson’s father also cooperated with authorities, describing the chain of events as involving “a minister... and his good friend is a top US marshal... and then it was a father got involved.”
Trump said Robinson’s father cooperated with investigators and credited a “person of faith” for encouraging the family to step forward. “With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump added.
Trump also revealed how he learned about Kirk’s killing. “They came in and they said, ‘Charlie Kirk is dead.’ I didn’t know what they meant. I said, ‘What do you mean, dead?’ ‘Charlie Kirk was shot.’ And they thought it was dead because it was so horrific,” Trump recalled. He said he immediately ended a White House planning meeting.
Governor calls attack ‘an attack on all of us’
At the news conference, Governor Cox addressed questions about why so many resources were mobilised. “This is much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us,” he said. Calling Kirk’s assassination “an attack on the American experiment,” Cox urged people to avoid consuming violent images circulating online. “Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” he said.
Security experts told the Associated Press that the incident underlines the vulnerability of public events, especially at open venues like university courtyards, despite campus police presence. Kirk’s shooting has added to concerns over escalating political violence in the United States.
Charlie Kirk, who was 30, was a prominent conservative activist and close ally of Trump. Trump described him as “a good person” and said he will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“In less than 36 hours – 33 to be precise – thanks to the full weight of the federal government and leading out with the partners here in the state of Utah and Gov. Cox, the suspect was apprehended in historic time period,” Patel told reporters. He added that forensic evidence has already been evaluated and more than 11,000 leads have been checked.
The arrest comes after Kirk was shot on Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem. Officials described it as a targeted attack. Kirk later died in hospital. A Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle was recovered wrapped in a towel in nearby woods, with one spent cartridge in the chamber and three rounds loaded in the magazine.
Timeline of the investigation Wednesday, September 10:
- 12:23 pm MT – Kirk is in the middle of responding to a question during the first stop of his “American Comeback Tour” when he is shot in front of hundreds of spectators, sending the crowd screaming and fleeing.
- 12:39 pm – The first FBI agents arrive along with local chiefs of police, FBI Director Kash Patel later says. Planes are immediately mobilized “to transport forensic evidence” and send more bureau assets to the scene.
- 2:40 pm – President Donald Trump announces on his Truth Social platform that Kirk has died. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” said Trump.
- 4:21 pm – FBI Director Kash Patel says on X that “the subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.” The statement is contradicted by local law enforcement, and Patel later says the person who was in custody was “released after an interrogation.”
- 9:48 am – The FBI releases its first photos of a person of interest. They show a man in sunglasses and a dark blue cap wearing a black T-shirt with a large American flag and bald eagle on the front walking up a stairwell.
- 10:45 am - The FBI announces a $100,000 reward “for information leading to the identification and arrest of the individual(s) responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
- 7:52 pm – Authorities release new surveillance video showing the suspect running across a rooftop overlooking the event, jumping to the ground and then leaving the scene.
- 10:00 pm – Tyler Robinson, 22, is taken into custody, according to Patel’s timeline. A law enforcement official speaking to CNN says Robinson had been identified by his father based on the FBI photos, and Robinson confessed to his father when confronted.
- 6:03 am – President Trump announces the arrest of a suspect during an interview on Fox News in New York. “I think with a high degree of certainty we have him in custody,” the president says.
- 8:04 am – “We got him,” says Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, publicly announcing the arrest of Robinson for the murder of Kirk.
Messages on bullet casings
Utah governor Spencer Cox revealed disturbing details about the evidence. He said investigators found a rifle wrapped in a towel and bullet casings engraved with messages. One fired casing read: “notices bulges OWO what’s this?” Three unfired casings carried other inscriptions: “hey fascist! catch!”, “oh bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao,” and “if you read this you are gay lmao.”
“Bella ciao” is an Italian folk song famously associated with resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II.
Cox said, “We got him. On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.”
How the suspect was caught: Family tip-off and voluntary surrender Authorities said the breakthrough in the Charlie Kirk murder case came from within the suspect’s own family. Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed that Tyler Robinson, 22, was identified after a family member passed on crucial information. “On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident,” Cox said during a press briefing.
According to CNN, Robinson voluntarily surrendered at a police station soon after his family pushed him to come forward. He reportedly walked into headquarters without resistance and admitted to being involved. Law enforcement officials said his surrender helped avert what could have been an extended manhunt across Utah.
The FBI has since confirmed that the firearm used in the shooting, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, was recovered near the crime scene shortly after his arrest.
Trump reacts, credits family and ‘person of faith’
US President Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News, said: “Someone very close to him turned him in. Essentially somebody that was very close to him turned him in. That happens when you have some of those good shots,” referring to the FBI’s release of clear images of the suspect a day earlier. Trump further revealed that Robinson’s father also cooperated with authorities, describing the chain of events as involving “a minister... and his good friend is a top US marshal... and then it was a father got involved.”
Trump said Robinson’s father cooperated with investigators and credited a “person of faith” for encouraging the family to step forward. “With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump added.
Trump also revealed how he learned about Kirk’s killing. “They came in and they said, ‘Charlie Kirk is dead.’ I didn’t know what they meant. I said, ‘What do you mean, dead?’ ‘Charlie Kirk was shot.’ And they thought it was dead because it was so horrific,” Trump recalled. He said he immediately ended a White House planning meeting.
Governor calls attack ‘an attack on all of us’
At the news conference, Governor Cox addressed questions about why so many resources were mobilised. “This is much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us,” he said. Calling Kirk’s assassination “an attack on the American experiment,” Cox urged people to avoid consuming violent images circulating online. “Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” he said.
Security experts told the Associated Press that the incident underlines the vulnerability of public events, especially at open venues like university courtyards, despite campus police presence. Kirk’s shooting has added to concerns over escalating political violence in the United States.
Charlie Kirk, who was 30, was a prominent conservative activist and close ally of Trump. Trump described him as “a good person” and said he will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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