Charlie Kirk, an influential right-wing activist and a close ally of US President Donald Trump, was shot dead on Wednesday while speaking at an event at a university in Utah.
On Friday President Trump said a suspect was in custody, telling Fox News: “I think we’ve got him.”
At a subsequent press conference, Utah Governor Spencer Cox named the suspect as Tyler Robinson.
Here is what we know.
What happened?
Kirk, 31, was speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem on 10 September, 2025 as part of his “American Comeback” tour.
He sat under a white gazebo to take questions from a crowd of about 3,000 in the university’s “quad”, an outdoor courtyard.
At about 12:20, he is asked by a member of the crowd: “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”
He replies: “Too many.”
The questioner then states there had been five in 10 years and asks Kirk how many mass shootings there had been in that time.
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk replies.
Then a single shot is heard, which is believed to have been fired from the roof of the Losee Center, a building overlooking the quad.
Kirk then slumps in his chair with a clearly visible wound to his neck. He is bleeding profusely as his staff get him off stage.
The crowds around the tent then begin to flee, and screams can be heard.
What do we know about Tyler Robinson?
FBIOn Friday President Trump told Fox News that a suspect was in custody and was turned in by “someone very close to him.”
Asked to clarify, Trump says the father, “namely his father”, got involved, and said “we’ve got to go in”.
“They drove into the police headquarters, and he’s there now,” he said.
At a news conference shortly afterwards, Utah Governor Spencer Cox identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, 22, and said that on Thursday evening a family member of his “reached out to a family friend” who contacted the authorities.
Investigators found Robinson in the same clothing seen in footage they had gathered.
Cox said a family member told investigators that Robinson had become “more political” in recent years.
The family member recalled a conversation with Robinson in which the suspect said Charlie Kirk was “full of hate and spreading hate”.
Cox also described the gun, scope and bullet casings found near the scene, some of which he said had been engraved with slogans including “Hey fascist, catch!”
Authorities had not previously named a suspect but had released photos of a “person of interest” and appealed for public help identifying the man pictured, who was wearing sunglasses, Converse shoes and a “distinctive” long-sleeved black top featuring an American flag and an eagle.
At a press conference on Thursday night, Utah Governor Spencer Cox also released a video of the suspect fleeing the scene.
A figure dressed in black is seen running across the roof of the building from where the shot was fired and jumping to the grass below, before walking towards a nearby road and a cluster of trees.
The FBI earlier said they found a high-powered firearm – an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt action rifle – wrapped in a towel in a wooded area.
Other videos, including two examined by BBC Verify, also appear to show a dark figure running across the roof of a building in the aftermath of the shooting.
Officials say a palm print and forearm imprints were also discovered, and that forensic evidence was being processed in federal and state laboratories.
In his statement on Thursday, Cox said the authorities would pursue the death penalty in this case. Utah is one of 27 states in the US where the death penalty is legal.
He said there had been thousands of tips from members of the public, the largest number the FBI has received since the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, he added. More than 200 interviews had been conducted.
Eyewitnesses at the university during the shooting described what they saw to reporters.
“I heard a loud shot, a loud bang and then I saw his body actually – in slow motion – kind of fall over,” one witness said.
“We all dropped to the ground, and I want to say we sat like that for about 30 to 45 seconds, and then everyone around us got up and started running,” said Emma Pitts, a reporter from Deseret News.
Who was Charlie Kirk?
Kirk was one of the most high-profile right-wing activists and media personalities in the US. He was a trusted ally of Trump, attended his inauguration and regularly visited the White House.
As an 18-year-old in 2012, he co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a student organisation that aims to spread conservative ideals at liberal-leaning US colleges.
He became known for holding open-air debates on campuses across the country, fielding quick questions in a signature “Prove Me Wrong” style.
His social media feed and daily podcast offer a snapshot of what he often debated – the issues ranged from gun rights and climate change, to faith and family values.
Kirk had many critics who saw him as a divisive figure that promoted controversial and, at times, conspiratorial beliefs such as the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
But he also had his fans. They credit him with playing a key role in convincing younger voters to turn out for Trump in last year’s election.
He was valued within the Trump administration for his keen understanding of the Maga movement.
What has the reaction been?
There has been shock, grief and anger across the political spectrum.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No-one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social.
“He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me,” the president added, ordering that all flags be flown at half-mast across the country.
Getty ImagesFormer US presidents have offered their condolences. Joe Biden said there was “no place in our country for this kind of violence”, while Barack Obama called the shooting a “despicable act”.
But the death has also laid bare the deep polarisations within American politics.
From the Oval Office on Wednesday night, local time, Trump said “radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people”.
Some of his allies – including Laura Loomer and Elon Musk – similarly pinned blame on the left or the Democratic Party, and called for mass arrests.
Conservative commentators have also highlighted tasteless comments by left-wing activists appearing to celebrate or condone Kirk’s death.
This has spilled out in Congress, where shouting broke out after a moment of silence for Kirk. Republican representative Anna Paulina Luna accused Democrats of spreading hateful rhetoric.
However, the comments from Trump and his allies have stirred controversy, with critics saying they neglect to acknowledge that the spate of violence is affecting left-leaning politicians too, and arguing they could heighten tensions further.
Is political violence in the US increasing?
The US has experienced about 150 politically motivated attacks in the first six months of this year.
That is nearly twice as many as over the same period last year, an expert told Reuters news agency.
Mike Jensen – from the University of Maryland, which for more than 50 years has tracked political violence in a database – said the US is in a “a very, very dangerous spot right now”.
“This could absolutely serve as a kind of flashpoint that inspires more of it.”
Kirk’s murder is the latest in a string of high-profile attacks against political leaders in the US, including two attempted assassinations on Trump during his 2024 election campaign.
The president suffered an ear injury in an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July.
Getty ImagesIn June, Minnesota’s top Democratic legislator and her husband were murdered in their home.
In 2022, the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was bludgeoned with a hammer after a man broke into the couple’s home looking for the top-ranking Democrat with the intention of taking her hostage.
Former US representative Gabby Giffords – who survived being shot in the head during a meeting with constituents in 2011 – also condemned the attack.
“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.”
Source: BBC
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