WASHINGTON

Since authorities named Tyler Robinson the suspect in the fatal shooting of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University (UVU), details on the 22-year-old have continued to emerge.

Kirk was shot while speaking at a student-sponsored event in Orem as he answered a question on mass shootings. Footage released by the FBI showed the alleged assailant fleeing a campus roof. Hours later, Kirk was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The killing prompted a manhunt that lasted more than 30 hours. Two individuals of interest were briefly detained before Robinson became the main suspect, as speculation spread online that the killer might be foreign, transgender or had taken issue with Kirk’s views on Palestinians.

Those claims proved unfounded. Robinson was arrested late Thursday in Washington County, where he lived with his family, after relatives alerted authorities. President Donald Trump said Robinson’s father helped persuade him to surrender.

Ordinary background

Robinson grew up in Washington, Utah, in what appeared from social media posts to be a typical middle-class household. His mother, Amber Jones Robinson, a University of Utah-educated social worker, shared photos of family outings, including a 2021 visit with her son to Utah State University.

Citing local education authorities, The Washington Post reported that Robinson had studied a semester at Utah State University in 2021. He then went on to enroll in an electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George, Utah, and was in his third year.

Screenshots of his mother’s now-deleted Facebook posts that circulated online after the arrest highlighted Robinson’s academic achievements, while others showed him handling firearms. Utah’s public safety commissioner said he “blended in well with the college institution.”

Relatives told investigators Robinson had “become more political in recent years.” One noted a dinner earlier in the week where Robinson mentioned Kirk’s upcoming appearance at UVU and criticized him as “full of hate,” according to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who addressed reporters at Friday’s news conference.

The investigation

Investigators said Robinson was not enrolled at UVU and had been living with his family in Washington County, driving three hours to the site where he would fire the shot that killed Kirk.

Video from campus security cameras showed Robinson arriving on Wednesday in a gray Dodge Challenger on the morning of the shooting, wearing a maroon shirt, light shorts, a black hat and light-colored shoes. When officers encountered him in Washington County two days later, he was in similar clothing, according to law enforcement

A search near the suspect’s escape route uncovered a Mauser bolt-action rifle with a scope, wrapped in a towel. Engraved shell casings were found alongside it -- one inscribed with “Hey fascist, catch!” and another with the lyrics from the Italian anti-fascist song Bella Ciao. Investigators said Robinson’s messages on an online platform referred to retrieving and hiding the rifle and changing clothes.

Cox said Robinson’s name surfaced after a family member told a friend that Robinson had admitted or suggested he was responsible. That tip was relayed to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and passed to investigators.

The governor underlined his shock that the suspect came from what appeared to be a quintessentially American middle-class life.

“For 33 hours, I was praying that if this had to happen here, that it wouldn't be one of us, that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country, that yeah, sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for,” said Cox.