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Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, appears by camera before Judge Tony Graf of the 4th District Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 for or his initial appearance in Provo Utah.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

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Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray speaks about charges filed against Tyler Robinson during a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Provo.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray speaks about charges filed against Tyler Robinson during a news conference while Sheriff Mike Smith, left, and county prosecutors stand behind Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Provo.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Judge Tony Graf of the 4th District Court in Provo Utah listens to Salt Lake City criminal defense attorney Greg Skordas who appeared on behalf of Utah County, as Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, appeared by camera on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 for his initial appearance in Provo Utah.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

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Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, appears by camera before Judge Tony Graf of the 4th District Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 for or his initial appearance in Provo Utah.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

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Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray speaks about charges filed against Tyler Robinson during a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Provo.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray filed charges Tuesday against the man suspected of killing Charlie Kirk and said he intends to pursue the death penalty. 

Tyler Robinson, 22, of Washington, Utah, faces seven criminal charges, including aggravated murder, a capital felony, after he allegedly shot and killed Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem last Wednesday. 

Gray announced the charges during a news conference at the Utah County Health and Justice Center in Provo. 

Gray said he was not pressured by the administrations of President Donald Trump or Gov. Spencer Cox to pursue the death penalty and that he made the decision of his own accord. 

“I do not take this decision lightly, and it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime,” he said. 

A victim-targeting enhancement was attached to the aggravated murder charge, because the county attorney believes Robinson intentionally targeted Kirk because of what Robinson perceived Kirk’s political beliefs were. 

Robinson was also charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony; two counts of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; two counts of tampering with a witness, a third-degree felony; and one count of a violent offense committed in the presence of a child, a Class A misdemeanor.

Robinson was informed of his charges during a virtual court appearance Tuesday afternoon. Judge Tony Graf found Robinson indigent and appointed a Rule A qualified attorney to represent him. 

Robinson appeared from the Utah County Jail, wearing a sleeveless gray outfit. He spoke his name to the judge and appeared attentive throughout the session. 

Prosecutors Chad E. Grunander, Ryan McBride, Lauren Hunt, David Sturgill and Chris Ballard were assigned by Gray to be the trial team on the case. 

The next virtual hearing is set for Sept. 29 at 10 a.m.

Detaining Robinson 

Gray read the probable cause statement in the charging documents before dozens of local, national and international reporters at the news conference, sharing further information on the shooting, the ensuing investigation, how Robinson was detained and alleged messages between Robinson and his roommate. 

According to a probable cause statement, Kirk was shot and killed while speaking to the large crowd at UVU on Sept. 10 at 12:23 p.m. A 33-hour manhunt followed, as police located a suspected murder weapon, a bolt-action .30-06 rifle near the school. Robinson surrendered to police at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.

Court documents said that Robinson’s mother told police her son had become more political and “started to lean more to the left” over the “last year or so,” and that he had become “more pro–gay and trans–rights oriented.” 

According to police, Robinson had differing political views than his family members and had mentioned to family Kirk’s upcoming visit to UVU, calling it a “stupid venue” to hold it at and accusing Kirk of spreading hate.

Robinson’s mother told police that the day after the shooting, she saw a photo of the shooter in the news and thought he resembled her son, and her husband agreed, the court documents said. 

The court documents added that investigators said she called Robinson and asked where he was, and Robinson said he was home sick and had been on Sept. 10. Robinson’s father thought the suspected murder weapon matched a rifle he gave his son as a gift, and he contacted Robinson to see a photo of the rifle, but Robinson did not respond, the court documents said.

In a later phone call between Robinson and his father, Robinson implied that he “planned to take his own life,” but Robinson’s parents convinced him to meet at their home, according to court documents. 

“As they discussed the situation, Robinson implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it,” the probable cause statement said. “When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there is too much evil and the guy (Charlie Kirk) spreads too much hate. They talked about Robinson turning himself in and convinced Robinson to speak with a family friend who is a retired deputy sheriff. At Robinson’s father’s request, the family friend met with Robinson and his parents and convinced Robinson to turn himself in.”

Alleged confession

The court documents detailed text messages reportedly shared with police by Robinson’s roommate, who police said is a biological male transitioning to female and involved in a romantic relationship with Robinson. 

According to the affidavit:

“On September 10, 2025, the roommate received a text message from Robinson which said, ‘drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard.’ The roommate looked under the keyboard and found a note that stated, ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.’ Police found a photograph of this note.

The affidavit added:

“After reading the note, the roommate responded, ‘What?????????????? You’re joking, right????'”

According to the affidavit, the text exchange proceeded as follows:

Robinson: “I am still ok my love, but am stuck in orem for a little while longer yet. Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.” 

Roommate: “you weren’t the one who did it right????”

Robinson: “I am, I’m sorry”

Roommate: “I thought they caught the person?”

Robinson: “no, they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in similar clothing. I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. Its quiet, almost enough to get out, but theres one vehicle lingering.” 

Roommate: “Why?” 

Robinson: “Why did I do it?” 

Roommate: “Yeah” 

Robinson: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out. If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.”

The conversation continued: 

Roommate: “How long have you been planning this?”

Robinson: “a bit over a week I believe. I can get close to it but there is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don’t wanna chance it”

It continued:

Robinson: “I’m wishing I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle. … I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back grandpas rifle … idek if it had a serial number, but it wouldn’t trace to me. I worry about prints I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits. didn’t have the ability or time to bring it with. … I might have to abandon it and hope they don’t find prints. how the f– will I explain losing it to my old man. … 

“only thing I left was the rifle wrapped in a towel. … 

“remember how I was engraving bullets? The f– messages are mostly a big meme, if I see ‘notices bulge uwu’ on fox new I might have a stroke alright im gonna have to leave it, that really f — sucks. … judging from today I’d say grandpas gun does just fine idk. I think that was a $2k scope ;-;”

The conversation continued: 

Robinson: “delete this exchange”

Robinson: “my dad wants photos of the rifle … he says grandpa wants to know who has what, the feds released a photo of the rifle, and it is very unique. Hes calling me rn, not answering.”

It continued:

Robinson: “since trump got into office [my dad] has been pretty diehard maga.”

The conversation continued:

Robinson: “Im gonna turn myself in willingly, one of my neighbors here is a deputy for the sheriff.” 

Robinson: “you are all I worry about love” 

Roommate: “I’m much more worried about you” 

Robinson: “don’t talk to the media please. don’t take any interviews or make any comments. … if any police ask you questions ask for a lawyer and stay silent”

Exact times for each message were not disclosed in the affidavit.

Additional detail 

The moment the shot was fired, a UVU police officer watching the crowd from an elevated vantage point looked for potential sniper positions and noted a roof 160 yards away from Kirk and rushed toward it, court documents said. 

The position is “adjacent to an open, publicly accessible walkway,” according to investigators, and accessing it required climbing over a railing, then dropping to the roof slightly below.

The UVU officer accessed the position and confirmed a clear shooting corridor toward where Kirk was sitting and also found markings on the gravel rooftop “consistent with a sniper having lain on the roof,” the documents stated. 

Video surveillance tracked the path of an individual dressed in dark clothing onto the roof, investigators said. 

“As he proceeds across the campus, he is seen walking with an unusual gait,” court documents said. “The suspect walks with very little bending in his right leg consistent with a rifle being hidden in his pants. This unusual gait continues until the suspect is seen crossing the railing off the open walkway and onto the roof, where he leaves the camera’s view.”

The camera reportedly caught the individual running across the roof with an item resembling a rifle, climbing down from the roof and running to the northeast end of campus. 

Officials tracked the escape path and located the bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel, which contained one spent round and three unspent rounds with the following inscriptions, police said: 

Fired cartridge: 

“NoTices BuldgeOWO What’s This?”

Second cartridge: 

“Hey Facist! Catch! (Arrow symbols)”

Third cartridge: 

“O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao Ciao, ciao!”

Fourth cartridge: 

“If you Read This, You Are GAY Lmao”