Shooting suspect Tyler Robinson appeared to be a social teenager who was passionate about math in high school, his yearbook revealed.
Robinson, 22, was arrested on suspicion of assassinating Charlie Kirk, 31, at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Robinson was apprehended following a 33-hour manhunt after he was persuaded to turn himself in by his father.
Years before being named as the alleged shooter, Robinson was a student at Pine View High School in St George, Utah, where he was a member of the auto mechanics club.
In a section where students were asked for their favorite subject, he wrote: ‘Math, it makes more sense than English.’
Former classmates have described Robinson as an unremarkable, normal student who had friends and mainly hung out with members of the school band.
He had good grades and was awarded a four-year scholarship to Utah State University, but only attended for one semester before he dropped out to enroll in Dixie Technical College.
At the time of the shooting, he was a third-year student at the college in the electrical apprenticeship program.
Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson appeared to be a social teenager who was passionate about math in high school, his yearbook photos revealed
In a section where students were asked for their favorite subject, he wrote: ‘Math, it makes more sense than English’
Charlie Kirk, 31, was killed by a single bullet at Utah Valley University on Wednesday
Robinson was unmasked as the alleged shooter on Friday following a two-day manhunt, which came to an end after his father recognized him through FBI photos and confronted his son.
The alleged assassin reportedly told his father that he would rather kill himself than turn himself in, but was convinced to speak with a local youth minister who also worked with the US Marshals Service.
The family’s social media profiles show Robinson, who has two younger brothers, often enjoying family vacations and sharing smiling selfies, including one of his mother celebrating her ‘genius’ son getting into college.
Other images also show Robinson appearing to use guns frequently in his childhood, regularly visiting shooting ranges and posing with high-caliber weapons.
He lives in a $600,000 six-bedroom home in Washington, Utah – about 260 miles south of Kirk’s assassination site in Orem.
Robinson was taken into custody around 11pm local time in southern Utah on Thursday night.
He faces charges of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice, according to a probable cause affidavit. Authorities said at a press conference on Thursday night that Robinson will face the death penalty if convicted.
At a press conference on Friday morning, Utah governor Spencer Cox began his remarks by declaring: ‘We got him.’
The suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination was been identified as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah resident, on Friday
Robinson, 22, named Friday as the alleged killer who shot Charlie Kirk, had a childhood obsession with guns and was seen posing with an M2 Browning 50. calibre machine gun in social media pictures
Robinson seen in his mugshot
The alleged killer confessed to his father after he was confronted, and initially told him he would rather kill himself than turn himself in
Cox described Kirk’s assassination as a ‘watershed moment’ in American history, but added: ‘The question is, what kind of watershed?’
He said that investigators learned from Robinson’s family that he had become more political in recent times, and had recently expressed his dislike for Kirk, describing him to his family as ‘full of hate’.
Cox said that casings from the weapon used to kill Kirk were found to have several anti-fascist messages engraved on them, including one referencing the WW2 Italian anti-fascist song Bella Ciao.
One engraving read ‘Hey Fascists, Catch!’ – next to an up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol and three down arrow symbols – another read ‘OwO’, and a third read ‘If You Read This You Are Gay LMAO’, Cox said.
The governor added that Robinson’s roommate helped investigators by showing messages on Discord where the alleged killer talked about retrieving a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, and references to engraved bullets and a scope.
