A Mother’s Instinct and a Hidden Note Lead to Arrest in Charlie Kirk Shooting

In the tense hours following the shooting at Utah Valley University last Wednesday, Tyler Robinson sent a message to his roommate and partner 250 miles away, instructing them to "Drop what you’re doing, look under my keyboard."

Hidden in their unassuming apartment in St. George, Utah, was a note from Robinson that read, "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it."

After an intense 33-hour manhunt involving high-level government officials, Robinson, 22, was arrested. Crucially, it was his mother’s recognition of her son’s image on the news that set in motion the series of calls leading to his capture.

Legal documents describe Robinson as a politically left-leaning individual with pro-LGBTQ beliefs who spent a week plotting the attack that has intensified political tensions nationwide and sparked government-level responses.

Behind the public turmoil, Robinson’s family and partner in southern Utah grappled with the painful realization that the once academically successful scholarship student was the person law enforcement was pursuing.

Robinson’s partner reached out to him in disbelief, asking, “You weren’t the one who did it, right?” to which Robinson replied, “I am. I’m sorry.”