Charlie Kirk Killing: Suspect Was Angered by Victim's Politics

Frenzied manhunt ends after 22-year-old turns himself in, as details of his life emerge

- Kellen Browning, Jack Healy and Thomas Fuller

OREM, Utah — A 22-year-old man angered by activist Charlie Kirk's politics turned himself in to face charges in Mr. Kirk's killing, the U.S. authorities said on Sept. 12, ending a search that followed the brazen assassination before 3,000 horrified college students.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen — we got him," Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, said at the beginning of a news conference to announce the arrest of the suspect, Tyler Robinson.

After shooting Mr. Kirk from a rooftop more than 130m away, the authorities said, Robinson managed to evade the helicopters, squad cars and foot patrols searching for him for more than 30 hours.

Then, around the same time that law enforcement received a tip about him, Robinson surrendered himself late on Sept. 11 at his local sheriff's office in Washington County, Utah, a 3½-hour drive from Utah Valley University in Orem, where Mr. Kirk was killed on Sept. 10.

The authorities believe that Robinson acted alone. He was being held in the Utah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated murder and other felonies, according to court records.

As they tried to discern his motive, the authorities said Robinson had left clues.

They reported on Sept. 12 that a family member said that Robinson had grown more political in recent years. According to an affidavit by an agent with the Utah Department of Public Safety, the family member noted that Robinson had recently mentioned that Mr. Kirk, a founder of the influential conservative organization Turning Point USA, was going to be holding an event at Utah Valley University and that Robinson and the family member "talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had."