The manhunt for the shooter who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk ended Friday with a suspect taken into custody, authorities stated.
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 buddy of Robinson’s household. Officers stated the tip got here late Thursday night time, prompting brokers to maneuver rapidly to find and arrest him. A $100,000 reward for data 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 have now 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 buddy, who contacted authorities. The buddy advised investigators that Robinson had hinted at his involvement within the capturing. The tip was relayed by way of native legislation 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 advised investigators that Robinson spoke critically of Kirk.
Cox stated 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 advised NBC Information in an announcement that the corporate “recognized a Discord account related to the suspect,” which Discord has now eliminated. Nonetheless, the corporate stated the dialogue Cox cited didn’t contain that account.
“The messages referenced in current reporting about planning particulars don’t seem like Discord messages,” a Discord spokesperson advised NBC Information. “These had been communications between the suspect’s roommate and a buddy 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 velocity of the response and coordination with Utah authorities. He stated brokers arrived on scene inside 16 minutes of the capturing, secured the world alongside native police, and rapidly started shifting proof to FBI labs in Quantico for evaluation. “The FBI and our companions are proud to face right here in the present day collectively to convey justice to the household of Charlie Kirk and honor his reminiscence,” he stated.
Patel closed his remarks with a quick 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 might be instantly recognized in public or personal databases. Web customers produced photographs they claimed got here from household picture albums posted on-line, however the accounts of his instant members of the family had been shut down rapidly, and these photographs could not be verified; none pointed to any apparent motive or ideology.
