 "A police mugshot shows Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the fatal shooting of US conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Reuters")
The prime suspect in the killing of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk was arrested after he confessed his crimes to his father, who eventually turned him in to the authorities. The 32-year-old Tyler Robinson was taken into custody at 10 pm (local time) on Thursday after a 33-hour-long manhunt.
“We got him,” the Utah Governor Spencer Cox told reporters. “On the evening of 11 September, 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 shooting.
According to CBS News, the family member reported to be his father had recognised him from photos released during the manhunt. During the interview with Fox News, earlier that day, US President Donald Trump was one of the first people to confirm that the suspect was turned in by “someone very close”.
Trump said that the person who recognised the suspect went to “the father” who then “convinced the son”.
Robinson’s father encouraged him to hand himself in
Two law enforcement officials, who asked to remain anonymous, told CBS News that Robinson had confessed to his father, who had then urged him to turn himself in. Robinson told his father that he was the person in the photographs shared by the FBI, sources said.
Robinson’s father encouraged his son to hand himself in, but Robinson said he would rather take his own life. The sources noted that the suspect’s father then reached out to a family friend, reported to a church minister, and the pair attempted to calm Robinson down.
The pastor eventually contacted the local County Sheriff’s Office with the information. According to CNN, Robinson’s father called a youth pastor, who then called the US Marshals, and Robinson was eventually arrested. The authorities noted that criminal charges are expected to be filed on Tuesday.
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Robinson was a third-year student in an electrical apprenticeship programme at Dixie Technical College in south-west Utah, where he lived, a spokesperson for Utah Valley University (UVU) told the BBC. The spokesperson made it clear that the suspect did not attend Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place.
According to school records posted in 2020, Sky News reported that Robinson was a top student who achieved a 4.0 average. While speaking at a press conference, Cox said that authorities do not have information that would lead to further arrests but that “the investigation is ongoing”.
Charlie Kirk , the 31-year-old rightwing activist, who is known to be an ardent supporter of Trump, was speaking at an event in UVU when the shooter shot him in the neck. Kirk was rushed to the hospital, and Trump eventually announced that he succumbed to the gunshot. Kirk was survived by his wife, Erika and two children.