Visual timeline of Charlie Kirk shooting and manhunt for suspect
The suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is in custody, according to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
The suspected shooter was identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, said Cox in a Friday morning news conference. He was taken into custody after a family member contacted a family friend, who told authorities Robinson had "confessed to them or implied that he committed the incident."
Kirk, 31, was a conservative activist and a close political ally of President Donald Trump. He was speaking on an outside courtyard to a crowd of about 3,000 attendees on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, when he was shot and killed by an unknown assailant on Sept. 10.
Law enforcement officials described the attack as targeted, not random. During a news conference on Sept. 11, officials said they found a bolt-action rifle —believed to have fired the single fatal shot from a nearby rooftop — in a wooded area.
Here is what we know so far about the shooting. All times are local and approximate:
Timeline of Kirk shooting and manhunt
Sept. 10
8:29 a.m.: Suspect arrives in a gray Dodge Challenger, according to Utah Gov. Cox.
11:52 a.m.: The shooting suspect arrives on campus, according to Beau Mason, Utah Public Safety Commissioner and court records obtained by USA TODAY.
12 noon: Kirk begins speaking.
12:23 p.m.: Kirk is answering questions from the audience when he is shot in the neck, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY. He is rushed to Timpanogos Regional Hospital a few miles from the UVU campus. This time was initially placed at 12:10 by the university, 12:20 by local law enforcement, and later at 12:23 by Patel.
Surveillance video released Thursday night shows the suspect running across a rooftop, jumping off and dropping to the ground just after Kirk was shot.
12:42 p.m.: UVU issues alert on Kirk shooting. It says a suspect is in custody.
12:53 p.m.: FBI Director Kash Patel confirms Kirk shooting and says the FBI is assisting.
1:10 p.m.: UVU now says a suspect is not in custody.
1:37 p.m.: UVU closes campus.
1:45 p.m.: Kirk is reported in critical condition.
2:40 p.m.: President Trump posts on Truth Social that Kirk has died.
Sept. 11
10:00 a.m.: FBI releases the first set of FBI photos of the suspect, according to FBI Director Patel.
10:45 a.m.: A $100,000 reward for information about the shooter is announced, according to Patel.
On the evening of September 11, 2025 a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend, who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY.
10:00 p.m.: Suspect Tyler Robinson is taken into custody in Washington, Utah, according to Patel.
Sept. 12
4:00 a.m.: Suspect Tyler Robinson is booked into jail in Utah County (near the scene of the shooting) for the offenses of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY.
8:00 a.m.: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announces arrest, and identifies the suspect as Tyler Robinson in a news conference.
Where was the shooter?
Investigators say they have videos of the suspect entering the campus, going up stairwells, and up to a rooftop location where the shot was fired.
The shooter may have been less than 150 yards from Kirk, according to a USA TODAY analysis of satellite imagery.
Such a short distance is considered well within reach of a basic marksman. Army soldiers, even those in non-combat jobs or those who lack previous firearms experience, must pass a rifle marksmanship test that includes targets as far as 325 yards away after mere days of training.
What gun was used?
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times, citing law-enforcement sources, reported it was an older model Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle. An ATF spokesperson declined to comment to USA TODAY, citing the active investigation.
During a Sept. 12 news conference, Utah Gox. Cox provided additional details: "Investigators discovered a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark colored towel. The rifle was determined to be a Mauser Model 98, .30-06 caliber," Cox said. "The rifle had a scope mounted on top of it. Investigators noted inscriptions that had been engraved on casings found with the rifle."
The .30-06 round used in the recovered rifle would not experience much, if any, gravitational drop or wind disruption at that distance, either.
In addition to recovering a rifle, investigators have shoe print impressions, palm prints, and forearm imprints for forensic analysis, says Robert Bohls, FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Salt Lake City field office.
Analysis of surveillance videos show the shooting suspect arrived on campus about a half-hour before Kirk started speaking, said Beau Mason, Utah Public Safety Commissioner, in a news conference Thursday morning.
Mason described the suspect as someone who "blended in well" with the campus crowd and was of college age.
Police have traced the suspect's movements off the roof after the shooting before he fled the campus into a neighborhood. Authorities are looking for area doorbell cameras and other security footage.
"We do have good video footage of this individual. We are not going to release that at this time," Mason said. Investigators are using technology to help identify the suspect from the video.
Two people were detained in the hours after the shooting, including one who was interrogated by law enforcement. Both were subsequently released and cleared of being suspects, Mason said.
The shooting, which officials say was a "political assassination," has been condemned by Republicans and Democrats. Trump, who ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Sunday, has vowed that his administration will "find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity."
This is a developing story which will be updated.
Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver, Nick Penzenstadler, Melissa Galbraith, Thao Nguyen, Josh Meyer, Jeanine Santucci, Fernando Cervantes Jr., Laura Gersony, Stephanie Murray, N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Joey Garrison, Aysha Bagchi, Bart Jansen, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Michael Loria, and David Baratz.
Sources: USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters, Storyful
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