Charlie Kirk shooting suspect charged with aggravated murder

Prosecutors on Tuesday brought a charge of aggravated murder against the 22-year-old suspected shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, said Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray at a press conference. The suspect, Tyler Robinson, was also charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, as well as other counts including witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child. Gray intended to seek the death penalty, and the defendant would continue to be held without bail, he said.

Kirk was shot and killed last Wednesday during an open-air debate event at Utah Valley University. The alleged shooter turned himself in to police the following day after a family friend alerted authorities. Investigators found DNA evidence that matched the defendant on the trigger of a bolt-action rifle found discarded near the college campus, Gray said. Authorities believe the rifle to be the murder weapon. Surveillance footage also captured the suspect climbing onto his rooftop shooting position and later fleeing it, Gray said.

According to the county attorney, the suspected shooter was in a romantic relationship with a man who identified as a woman. Gray noted that family members of the suspect claimed his views had leaned to the left in recent years, and they said he believed Kirk was spreading hatred. The suspect also left a note for his romantic partner indicating he carried out the murder, Gray said. The defendant is considered legally innocent until proven guilty in court.

What other murder case progressed on Tuesday? A New York judge dismissed two state-level terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He allowed the state’s second-degree murder charges to stand, according to the Associated Press.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry and Christina Grube’s report on the suspected Kirk shooter’s capture.