The manhunt for the shooter who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk ended Friday with a suspect taken into custody, authorities mentioned.
Utah’s Division of Public Security and the FBI confirmed the arrest throughout a morning briefing, capping a two-day search that started after the 31-year-old podcaster and Turning Level USA cofounder was fatally shot at Utah Valley College in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday.
Authorities recognized the suspect as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Washington, Utah, after receiving a tip from a good friend of Robinson’s household. Officers mentioned the tip got here late Thursday evening, prompting brokers to maneuver rapidly to find and arrest him. A $100,000 reward for info resulting in the identification and arrest of the shooter was introduced Thursday.
President Donald Trump first introduced the arrest in a dwell interview on Fox Information, claiming, “With a excessive diploma of certainty, we’ve got him.”
At a press briefing Friday, Utah governor Spencer Cox introduced Robinson had been arrested within the early hours of September 12 after a member of the family reached out to a household good friend, who contacted authorities. The good friend informed investigators that Robinson had hinted at his involvement within the capturing. The tip was relayed by means of native regulation enforcement to the FBI and Utah county investigators, who matched Robinson’s grey Dodge Challenger and clothes to campus surveillance footage from the day of the capturing. A member of the family additionally informed investigators that Robinson spoke critically of Kirk.
Cox mentioned Robinson’s roommate additionally cooperated, exhibiting investigators Discord messages during which Robinson mentioned retrieving and hiding a rifle, leaving it wrapped in a towel, monitoring the drop web site, and engraving bullets.
Afterward Friday, Discord informed NBC Information in a press release that the corporate “recognized a Discord account related to the suspect,” which Discord has now eliminated. Nevertheless, the corporate mentioned the dialogue Cox cited didn’t contain that account.
“The messages referenced in current reporting about planning particulars don’t look like Discord messages,” a Discord spokesperson informed NBC Information. “These had been communications between the suspect’s roommate and a good friend after the capturing, the place the roommate was recounting the contents of a notice the suspect had left elsewhere.”
FBI director Kash Patel outlined the bureau’s function within the investigation, stressing the pace of the response and coordination with Utah authorities. He mentioned brokers arrived on scene inside 16 minutes of the capturing, secured the world alongside native police, and rapidly started transferring proof to FBI labs in Quantico for evaluation. “The FBI and our companions are proud to face right here right now collectively to deliver justice to the household of Charlie Kirk and honor his reminiscence,” he mentioned.
Patel closed his remarks with a short eulogy for Kirk, saying, “I’ll see you in Valhalla.”
Past the Discord account talked about by Cox, Robinson seems to have had nearly no on-line footprint that may very well be instantly recognized in public or non-public databases. Web customers produced photographs they claimed got here from household photograph albums posted on-line, however the accounts of his fast relations had been shut down rapidly, and these photographs could not be verified; none pointed to any apparent motive or ideology.
