How the hunt for a suspect in Charlie Kirk’s shooting unfolded
Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was not even 15 minutes into a speaking event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday when a single shot pierced the air above the crowd of about 3,000 people gathered to listen to and debate him. The bullet hit Kirk in the neck, fatally injuring him, as terrified attendees ducked and scattered.
Six campus police officers worked the event, according to Utah Valley University Police Chief Jeff Long, and witnesses said entry did not include metal detectors or bag checks. Kirk’s own security team flanked him as he spoke at the bottom of a hill.
Yet as authorities continued to hunt for the shooter for more than 24 hours, attention focused on the vantage points available to the assailant, who is thought to have fired from the flat roof of a building accessible by ladders and walkways, and the possible difficulties of securing the sloping grassy area where the crowd gathered to watch Kirk.
It wasn’t until Friday morning that authorities arrested a suspect, ending the manhunt. Utah resident Tyler James Robinson, 22, allegedly confessed to the shooting to a family member, who told a family friend, who contacted authorities, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said at a Friday morning news conference. A spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Lucas Alfred, said Robinson “turned himself in to us.”
Here is how the shooting and events following it unfolded. All time stamps are in Mountain time.
11:52 A.M.
The shooter arrives near campus and makes their way through stairwells and across a roof to the shooting position, according to Utah Commissioner of Public Safety Beau Mason, who cited surveillance video.
11:54 A.M.
A crowd has gathered at a terraced courtyard on campus where Kirk is set to speak.
12:04 P.M.
A live stream of the event filmed by Adam Bartholomew, who regularly documents Utah political events, begins. It is later posted to X and YouTube.
12:10 P.M.
Kirk emerges and tosses Make America Great Again hats into the crowd.
12:17 P.M.
Kirk, seated beneath a pop-up canopy, speaks to the crowd. He is flanked by members of his security team.
12:22:38 P.M.
Seconds before Kirk is shot, his official TikTok account posts a video of him opening the event, telling the crowd to get comfortable and “bring the best libs Utah has to offer.”
The video pans to the roof area the shooter is suspected to have used, but no person is visible.
12:23:30 P.M.
Kirk is shot while answering a question from an audience member about responsibility for mass shootings. Bystanders and protesters being interviewed by Bartholomew for his live stream flinch at the cracking sound of the gunshot.
12:23:30 P.M.
Tanner Maxwell, a 28-year-old Utah Valley University student, begins filming a short video simultaneously with the gunshot. As he pans the phone camera in the following seconds, a person clad in dark clothing is visible in the distance running across the roof of the university’s Losee Center, which overlooks the courtyard where Kirk had been speaking. The video is later posted to social media and enhanced by The Washington Post.
The rooftop is about 140 yards, or 420 feet, from where Kirk had been speaking.
12:23:55 P.M.
Members of Kirk’s team carry him away from the scene and load him into an SUV. He is taken to a hospital, where he is later pronounced dead, according to Mason.
Immediately after the shooting
The shooter runs to the other side of the roof, jumps off the building and flees campus through a neighborhood, said Mason, the public safety commissioner.
The location where the person was seen running is blocked with police tape, and law enforcement place markings around indentations left in the gravel on the rooftop.
Wednesday afternoon
The school announces soon after the shooting that a suspect was in custody. A spokesperson later backtracks and says a suspect is still being sought.
Law enforcement officers later recover from nearby woods north of campus a high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe the shooter used, according to Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office.
FBI Director Kash Patel posts on social media that “the subject for the horrific shooting” was “now in custody.” Authorities conclude that the person has nothing to do with the shooting and quickly release them.
Cox, the governor, calls the shooting “a political assassination.”
The FBI releases two photos of a “person of interest” in the shooting. The images show a person wearing a long-sleeve black shirt, hat and sunglasses. Utah Public Safety releases additional photos of the “person of interest.”
At a 7:50 p.m. news conference held by Mason, Cox and Patel, law enforcement share additional images and new video footage showing the “person of interest” climbing off a building after the attack and fleeing.
The person dropped to the ground and moved across a grassy area near a parking lot.
Friday morning
Law enforcement arrest Robinson about 250 miles away in Washington County, Utah, around 4 a.m.