The Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect Went from a Quiet Upbringing to a Murder Charge

The Washington Post

11:42 JST, September 13, 2025

Tyler Robinson grew up on a quiet street in a quiet corner of Utah.

He played video games, and some neighbors said his family had previously attended services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Entering his senior year of high school, his mother posted a photo of him on social media along with his strong college-admission test scores and wrote, “This boy is a genius, and I’m hoping he’ll pick a Utah college and stay close.”

On Friday, more than five years after her post, Robinson was arrested and charged with murdering Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist gunned down this week during an appearance at a Utah college.

Authorities say Robinson, 22, fired a single shot at Kirk from a nearby rooftop before fleeing the area. Robinson turned himself in amid a sweeping manhunt that stretched out for more than a day. He could face the death penalty, if convicted.

Robinson had recently criticized Kirk, a prominent right-wing figure closely tied to President Donald Trump, according to officials. In a court affidavit, authorities said a family friend reported that after Kirk was shot, Robinson “confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.” The affidavit also said investigators recovered a rifle along with bullet casings with phrases engraved on them. One allegedly read: “hey fascist! CATCH!”

People who knew Robinson during his upbringing described the onetime straight-A student as reserved, smart, funny and fond of video games. They struggled to square their memories with the person accused of shooting Kirk in the neck.

A family member said Robinson became “more political in recent years,” according to a court affidavit. The relative said that during a dinner before Kirk’s visit to Utah Valley University this week, Robinson brought up the appearance with another family member.

“They talked about why they didn’t like him, and the viewpoints that he had,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said Friday about the discussion.

Attempts to reach Robinson’s relatives were unsuccessful Friday, and it was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. He is being held without bail and is set to make his first court appearance on Tuesday.

The gruesome moments of Kirk’s shooting and its aftermath, captured in graphic videos that quickly circulated online, set off a desperate scramble to identify and find the attacker. Investigators pleaded with the public for help and dug through thousands of tips submitted in response. On Thursday night, they circulated video footage and new photos of someone they said was a potential shooter.

That evening, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in southwestern Utah heard from a Robinson family friend, according to Cox and the court affidavit. The person told authorities that the 22-year-old had effectively confessed. FBI Director Kash Patel said Robinson was taken into custody by 10 p.m. the same night.

Sgt. Lucas Alfred, a spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, said Robinson turned himself in to that agency. Records shared with The Washington Post show that he was arrested at 4 a.m. on Friday morning.

Trump, appearing on Fox News on Friday morning, said during the interview that Robinson was in custody.

“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said. He added later: “And the father convinced the son. ‘This is it.’”

Robinson’s father recognized his son as the man in photos released by investigators and urged his son to turn himself in, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The father relayed that information to a family friend – a person with connections to local law enforcement – who then arranged for Robinson to turn himself in, the official said.

Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, Cox detailed other evidence he said linked Robinson to the shooting.

Cox said video footage showed Robinson arriving at the Utah Valley University campus in a gray Dodge Challenger, the same type of vehicle a relative confirmed he drove. Cox also said Robinson was seen on the footage wearing clothes that matched what he wore when encountering officials in Washington County late Thursday.

According to Cox and the court affidavit, Robinson’s roommate showed investigators messages Robinson allegedly posted on the social platform Discord, which included references to leaving a rifle in a bush and to engraved bullets. Discord confirmed Robinson had an account, but said there was no evidence he used it to plan the shooting or promote violence.

The platform also said in a statement that “messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages,” describing them instead as “communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.”

Cox declined to say whether Robinson was speaking with authorities after his arrest. The governor pointed to the shell casing bearing the word “fascist!” and told reporters: “That speaks for itself.”

In addition to that casing, which included arrow symbols, the affidavit said another unfired casing read: “If you read This, you are GAY Lmao.” The writing uses the flippant, sarcastic language of online and gaming culture adopted by other people accused of recent bloodshed, said Amy Cooter, a counterterrorism expert and deputy director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism. Cooter said the phrases may sound like gibberish to the uninitiated but suggest someone steeped in the code of the internet and video game forums.

The fired casing had the phrase “Notices Buldge OWO what’s this?” according to the affidavit. The phrase appears to misspell the word “bulge.” That is online speak suggesting sexual excitement resulting from a win or success, Cooter said. The reference to being gay echoes common language online, Cooter said.

The arrows on the casing reading “hey fascist!” are consistent with the button sequences used to drop bombs in the game “Helldivers 2,” a popular satirical game in which super-soldiers battle aliens.

Multiple people who knew Robinson from growing up recalled his fondness for video games. During high school, he was part of a group of students who would play Nintendo Switch games together at lunch, said Dane Stocking, 22.

Robinson was introverted but funny, Stocking said. “From what I remember, he was a jokester,” Stocking said. The two were not personally close, according to Stocking, and he did not recall Robinson discussing violence, guns or politics. The group drifted apart since high school, but they periodically check in with one another.

“Once this started coming out, we were really shocked,” Stocking said.

Xander Luke, another high school classmate, said he remembers Robinson being smart, funny and active online, trafficking in silly memes and jokes.

They would talk politics, Luke said, and discuss their “frustration with the system,” particularly feeling let down by the two major political parties. Robinson did not appear to like “hateful people” and “people who would talk down” to others, said Luke, 22.

Robinson’s family lived in a low-key, residential area in Washington, Utah, more than 200 miles away from the school where Kirk was killed. The normally quiet street where he grew up was swarmed with television cameras on Friday.

Robinson had long-standing roots in the community, attending schools in the Washington County School District since kindergarten and graduating from high school in May 2021. Utah State University said Robinson had studied there for a semester that same year.

The Utah Board of Higher Education said Robinson was a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George, Utah. He did not attend Utah Valley University, according to officials.

Kristin Schwiermann, 66, who lives a few doors down from the Robinson home, said he was one of three boys in his family. She recalled him as a “good kid” who was respectful, did not get into trouble and played with friends.

“The kid was quiet, smart, had friends, close-knit family in a close-knit neighborhood – who does that?” she wondered aloud from her porch, while police and reporters swarmed the block. Schwiermann said her grandson had been at the event where Kirk was killed, and she was stunned to learn Robinson had been named the alleged shooter.

“No way,” she said. “That’s not who he is.”

Robinson’s mother periodically posted about her son on Facebook, praising him as a loving son and bright student. Her posts documented family visits to Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and, on multiple occasions, Disneyland.

His mother was eager to share her son’s accomplishments, praising him for a 4.0 grade point average in middle school and highlighting his high ACT test score. In contrast to the rhetoric officials attributed to Robinson, his mother’s Facebook feed had a notable lack of politics. It was more focused on positive commentary about her children and husband.

Cox on Friday described the shooting as a “political assassination” that is “much bigger than an attack on an individual.”

He also said that “there is one person responsible for what happened here. And that person is now in custody.”