The morning after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Department of Public Safety and FBI officials said the manhunt for his killer continues while investigators recovered what they believe to be the killer’s weapon.
“It’s a high-powered, bolt-action rifle,” FBI Special Agent In Charge Robert Bohls said in an early morning news conference held at UVU. “That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analyzing this weapon.”
Investigators are also analyzing “footwear impressions, a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis,” he said.
Bohls and Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said their investigation is ongoing, and they declined to release more detailed information about the suspected shooter — other than saying the person “appears to be of college age” and overnight investigators tracked his movement through video camera footage.
“We are confident in our abilities to track that individual,” Mason said. “If we are unsuccessful in identifying them immediately, we will reach out for the public’s help and the media’s help in pushing those photos.”
Less than three hours later, shortly before 10 a.m., Salt Lake City-based FBI officials posted on X asking the public’s help to identify a “person of interest in connection with” Kirk’s shooting, along with two photos of what appeared to be a man wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt with an American flag graphic, blue jeans, sunglasses and a ball cap.
Starting at 11:52 a.m. on Wednesday, the shooter was spotted heading toward UVU’s campus. Mason said he “blended in well with the college institute,” appearing to be college aged.
“We have tracked his movements onto the campus, through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof to a shooting location,” Mason said. “After the shooting we were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building, and fled off of the campus and into a neighborhood.”
Investigators have contacted neighbors, “anybody they can with doorbell cameras, witnesses and have thoroughly worked through those communities trying to identify any leads,” Mason said.
“We do have good video footage of this individual,” he said, but “we’re not going to release that at this time. We are working through some technologies and some ways to identify this individual.”
If they’re unable to identify the suspect, then Mason said they’ll provide more information to the media to ask the public for help, “but we are confident in our abilities right now and would like to move forward in a manner that keeps everyone safe and moves this process appropriately.”
Bohls said FBI agents have been working “around the clock” in partnership with Utah law enforcement to find Kirk’s killer.
“We are and will continue to work nonstop until we find the person that has committed this heinous crime and find out why they did it,” Bohls said.
Kirk is a founder of Turning Point USA, an organization that advocates for conservative politics in educational institutions, and a close ally of President Donald Trump. He is a widely known and often polarizing internet personality who tours college campuses and engages students with his signature “prove me wrong” debates.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, called Kirk’s killing a “political assassination.” His killing widely prompted horror and condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats.
J.D. Vance traveling to Utah
Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha are expected to travel to Utah to visit with Kirk’s family, multiple national outlets reported early Thursday.
Originally scheduled to visit Ground Zero in New York City for a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Vances changed plans after Kirk’s killing, Politico reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the vice president’s plans. He’s not expected to hold any public events, according to the outlet.
Vance, in a lengthy post on X late Wednesday, eulogized Kirk as a “true friend.”
“I am on more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrate weddings and babies, bust each other’s chops, and mourn the loss of loved ones,” Vance said. “We talk about politics and policy and sports and life. These group chats include people at the very highest level of our government. They trusted him, loved him, and knew he’d always have their backs. And because he was a true friend, you could instinctively trust the people Charlie introduced you to. So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene. He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
Sen. Mike Lee introduces resolution for Kirk
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a resolution on Thursday “condemning the assassination of Charlie Kirk and honoring his life and legacy.”
“Charlie Kirk was an American patriot, an inspiration to countless young people to stand up and defend the timeless truths that make our country great,” Lee said in a prepared statement. “This murder was a cowardly act of violence, an attack on champions of freedom like Charlie, the students who gathered for civil debate, and all Americans who peacefully strive to save our nation. The terrorists will not win. Charlie will.”
Lee also urged Americans to “join me in praying” for Kirk’s wife, Erika, and their children.
“May justice be swift,” he said.
22-year-old Utahn suspected of killing Charlie Kirk in custody
BY: ALIXEL CABRERA - SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 1:02 PM
A suspect in Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting is in custody, federal and state officials announced Friday morning.
Law enforcement arrested Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Washington County resident. He was booked into the Utah County Jail.
“We got him,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said.
Kirk, a widely known and often polarizing conservative activist known for debating students on college campuses, was shot and killed during a Turning Point USA public speaking event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, unleashing a search that involved more than 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The FBI also offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the shooter.
According to Cox, a family member turned Robinson in. The suspect’s family member contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office saying Robinson had confessed or implied he had shot Kirk.
Investigators at the FBI and Utah Valley University reviewed additional surveillance footage from the university and identified Robinson arriving on campus in a gray Dodge Challenger at about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The family member who sent the tip said Robinson had become more political in recent years and that prior to Wednesday, he had mentioned Kirk’s visit to Utah Valley University.
“Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate. The family member also confirmed Robinson had a gray Dodge Challenger,” Cox said.
Robinson didn’t attend Utah Valley University. He is a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College, the Utah Board of Higher Education confirmed.
“Our campuses foster exploration, learning and the respectful exchange of diverse viewpoints. Attempts to silence or intimidate those voices have no place here. We will continue working to ensure our students, faculty and guests can safely express their perspectives,” the board said in a statement.
Messages shared with law enforcement by Robinson’s roommate included Discord messages from Robinson “stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel.”
The gun, Cox said, was a Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle.
Messages reviewed by law enforcement also referred to engraving bullets. Cox said inscriptions found on the shell casings included messages like “Hey fascist! Catch!” and “bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao” and “if you read this, you are gay LMAO.”
The governor said he didn’t have information about whether Robinson suffered from a mental illness.
Charging documents may be filed early next week, Cox said.
“This is a very sad day for, again, for our country, a terrible day for the state of Utah, but I’m grateful that at this moment, we have an opportunity to bring closure to this very dark chapter in our nation’s history,” Cox said.
The FBI is still pursuing the over 7,000 leads that it had received as of Friday morning, FBI Director Kash Patel said during the news conference.
Patel, who traveled to Utah during the investigation, thanked the governor and the local law enforcement agencies for resolving the case.
Forensic evidence has been analyzed in different FBI labs across the country, and state and local authorities will continue to process evidence, Patel said.
“In less than 36 hours, 33 to be precise, thanks to the full weight of the federal government and leading out with the partners here in the state of Utah and Gov. Cox, the suspect was apprehended in a historic time period,” Patel said.
Earlier on Friday morning, President Donald Trump said a suspect was in custody.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” he said on Fox News.
‘An attack on the American experiment’
Cox, who has championed a campaign to combat polarization, argued this incident was about the “political assassination of Charlie Kirk,” he said.
“But it is also much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been and who we could be in better times,” Cox said.
The fatal attack on Kirk may make it harder for people to feel like they can speak freely, the governor said. And, without a safe way to discuss opposing views, the country won’t be able to solve issues, “including the violence problems that people are worried about.”
“To my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option,” Cox said. “But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now.”
Whether this is a turning point for the best or worst, is yet to be seen, Cox said. But, after gory videos of Kirk’s shooting became widespread, he also called social media “a cancer on our society” and encouraged people to “log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”
This story was originally produced by Utah News Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes SC Daily Gazette, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
