{"id":177493,"date":"2025-09-29T10:56:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/177493\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T10:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:56:09","slug":"tyler-robinson-the-evidence-so-far-against-the-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-confessions-dna-and-his-grandfathers-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/177493\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Robinson: The evidence so far against the Charlie Kirk shooting suspect, confessions, DNA and his grandfather\u2019s rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n More than two weeks after Charlie Kirk, the conservative firebrand and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed<\/a> while speaking at Utah Valley University, his suspected killer is set to appear in court Monday \u2013 the next step on the lengthy road to a state trial.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old<\/a> who grew up in a Utah suburb and briefly attended Utah State University before dropping out and enrolling in an electrical apprenticeship program, faces a flurry of charges in Utah related to Kirk\u2019s death: aggravated murder, two counts of obstruction of justice, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.\n <\/p>\n

\n He has yet to plead to the charges against him.\n <\/p>\n

\n Robinson, who is being held in custody without bail, is set to appear in Utah\u2019s Fourth District Court virtually for a waiver hearing<\/a>. The hearing is part of the state\u2019s case against the alleged shooter, as the possibility of federal charges still looms. The hearing will mark Robinson\u2019s defense attorney\u2019s first appearances as his counsel and they\u2019ll likely schedule a preliminary hearing. It\u2019s possible \u2013 but unlikely \u2013 he will enter a plea.\n <\/p>\n

\"Tyler<\/p>\n

\n The shocking killing<\/a> \u2013 which took place in front of thousands of people and was seen by thousands more in videos that spread swiftly online \u2013 has inflamed an already polarized political<\/a> landscape. The president, who credited Kirk with helping galvanize the youth vote for his reelection, has blamed<\/a> the \u201cradical left\u201d for political violence and hailed Kirk as a \u201cmartyr for truth and freedom.\u201d And people, including a Washington Post columnist<\/a>, say they have been fired<\/a> over comments made in the aftermath of Kirk\u2019s killing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Thousands of people attended an emotional memorial service for Kirk<\/a> in Arizona, where the president and other prominent conservative leaders spoke.\n <\/p>\n

\n Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Robinson, if convicted. CNN has reached out to Robinson\u2019s attorney for comment.\n <\/p>\n

\n Here\u2019s what we know about the evidence authorities have assembled as they build their case against Robinson.\n <\/p>\n

\n Robinson appeared to confess to the shooting multiple times, in texts with his partner; in messages with friends on Discord; in conversations with his family; and to a family friend who was a former sheriff\u2019s deputy.\n <\/p>\n

\n Robinson\u2019s partner, with whom he shared an apartment, shared their text messages<\/a> with police, according to charging documents released by Utah County officials.\n <\/p>\n

\n On September 10, Robinson allegedly sent a message to his partner instructing them to \u201cdrop what you are doing, look under my keyboard.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Under the suspect\u2019s keyboard, his partner found a note reading, \u201cI had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I\u2019m going to take it,\u201d according to police, who said they found a photo of the note.\n <\/p>\n

\n In subsequent messages to his partner, Robinson seemed to confirm he had shot Kirk and said he \u201chad enough of his hatred.\u201d He said he had planned the attack for over a week and discussed his plans to recover the rifle from where he left it. And he referenced the bullets he had engraved<\/a> with messages pulled from internet and video gaming jargon, describing them as \u201cmostly a big meme.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n He also instructed his partner to \u201cdelete this exchange\u201d and deny media interviews and said he planned to turn himself in to a sheriff\u2019s deputy.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Discord, an online platform popular among gamers, an account attributed to Robinson also seemed to confess to the crime, according to the Washington Post<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n He told a small group chat he had \u201cbad news,\u201d and it was \u201cme at UVU yesterday,\u201d the Post reported, citing sources and screenshots the Post viewed.\n <\/p>\n

\n He told the group he would surrender shortly and thanked them for \u201call the good times and laughs,\u201d the outlet said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Robinson\u2019s partner also showed investigators messages<\/a> attributed to Robinson on Discord, in which he discussed the rifle left at the crime scene and the engraved bullets, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox previously said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Discord<\/a> has said its investigation found no evidence the suspect promoted violence or planned the attack on its platform.\n <\/p>\n

\n Finally, Robinson confessed<\/a> to his father. After Robinson\u2019s parents recognized their son in surveillance footage released by police, his father confronted his son on the phone, according to the charging document<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Robinson \u201cimplied that he planned to take his own life\u201d in that conversation, according to the filing. His parents convinced him to meet them at home, where he \u201cimplied that he was the shooter,\u201d says the document.\n <\/p>\n

\n Robinson\u2019s father eventually convinced him to speak to a family friend, a retired deputy sheriff. Accompanied by his parents, he turned himself in peacefully<\/a> at the Washington County Sheriff\u2019s Office. The FBI says he was taken into custody on September 11 at around 10 p.m.\n <\/p>\n

\n Another crucial piece of evidence authorities say ties Robinson to the crime is a bolt-action rifle, discovered in a wooded area near the campus. In alleged text messages to his partner, Robinson had discussed leaving the weapon wrapped in a towel and said he hoped to recover it after the shooting.\n <\/p>\n

\n The weapon was identified as a Mauser Model 98 .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle<\/a> equipped with a mounted scope, according to court documents. The type of rifle and rounds fired \u2013 one spent round and three unspent \u2013 were consistent with \u201cthe facts officers observed at the time of, and immediately after the shooting,\u201d says the charging document.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m worried what my old man would do if I didn\u2019t bring back grandpas rifle \u2026 idek if it had a serial number, but it wouldn\u2019t trace to me,\u201d Robinson allegedly wrote in text messages to his roommate.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n When police released images of the weapon, Robinson\u2019s father texted his son, asking for a picture of the gun, according to the charging document.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cmy dad wants photos of the rifle \u2026 he says grandpa wants to know who has what,\u201d Robinson allegedly wrote to his partner. \u201cthe feds released a photo of the rifle, and it is very unique. Hes calling me rn, not answering.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Robinson\u2019s father told authorities the police description of the suspected murder weapon \u201cmatched a rifle that was given to his son as a gift,\u201d according to the filing.\n <\/p>\n

\n The towel, rifle and ammunition recovered from the wooded area near the campus were sent for forensic processing, according to the charging document.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cDNA consistent with Robinson\u2019s was found on the trigger, other parts of the rifle, the fired cartridge casing, two of the three unfired cartridges, and the towel,\u201d reads the document.\n <\/p>\n

\n Surveillance footage from Utah Valley University shows that hours before Kirk was shot in the neck, Robinson arrived at the university in a Dodge Challenger wearing a plain maroon T-shirt, light-colored shorts, a black hat, and light-colored shoes, Cox previously said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The FBI\u2019s initial photos<\/a> of a person of interest show a man in a different outfit: he wears sunglasses, a dark blue cap, and a black T-shirt with a large American flag and bald eagle while walking up a stairwell.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Authorities also released surveillance video<\/a> showing the suspect running across a rooftop overlooking the event, jumping to the ground and then leaving the scene.\n <\/p>\n

\n At some point after the shooting, according to a police affidavit, Robinson changed into an outfit similar to the one seen in surveillance video.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than two weeks after Charlie Kirk, the conservative firebrand and close ally of President Donald Trump, was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-177493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}