What we know about Tyler Robinson, 22-year-old arrested for Charlie Kirk’s murder | World News

Utah Governor Spencer Cox, speaking in a press conference, confirmed Friday that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the killing of conservative activ Charlie Kirk has been taken into custody.“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,” Cox said during the news conference alongside FBI Chief Kash Patel.
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Patel, later, confirmed that Robinson was taken into custody at 10 pm local time on Thursday, September 11 .

Kirk was fatally shot in the neck while addressing a campus event at Utah Valley University. Earlier, US President Donald Trump also announced the arrest of the suspect , announcing on Fox News that “with a high degree of certainty, we have him.” Trump claimed the man was turned in someone “very close to him.”

Cox also said that investigators spoke with a relative of Robinson, who described him as having become “more political in recent years.”

According to Cox, the family member recalled a dinner conversation before September 10 in which Robinson brought up Kirk’s upcoming visit to Utah Valley University. During that exchange, another family member allegedly remarked that Kirk was “full of hate and spreading hate.”

Surveillance video released late Thursday showed a man walking across the roof of a building on the Utah Valley University campus, where the fatal shot was fired, before climbing down, dropping to the ground and slipping into a near wooded area. Investigators later recovered what they described as a high-powered bolt-action rifle, believed to be the weapon used in the attack.

The suspect was seen arriving on campus in a Dodge Challenger, dressed in a plain maroon T-shirt, light-colored shorts, a black hat with a white logo, and light-colored shoes. Officials said he blended in with students because of his college-age appearance.

When investigators approached him later, he was wearing attire “consent” with what was captured on the footage, Cox added.

Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said investigators were gathering DNA evidence, including palm impressions and smudges, and had identified a shoe imprint matching Converse sneakers. The FBI had offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck on Wednesday while addressing a crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem. Graphic videos of the shooting, widely shared on social media, showed him collapsing as panicked spectators screamed and fled. He was taken to hospital but died hours later.

Bolt-action rifles, unlike semi-automatic weapons often used in mass shootings, require manual loading of each round but are prized hunters and military snipers for their long-range accuracy.

Trump said Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him “a great person, a great man — great in every way, especially with youth.”

Vice President JD Vance, who cancelled a planned trip to New York to be with Kirk’s family, credited the activ with helping shape Trump’s 2024 victory and the adminration’s appointments. Vance accompanied the family and Kirk’s casket aboard Air Force Two to Arizona, where his organisation is based.