(0:00) Good morning ladies and gentlemen, we got him. On the evening of September 11th, a (0:07) family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the (0:12) Washington County Sheriff's Office with information that Robinson had confessed (0:16) to them or implied that he had committed the incident. This information was relayed (0:22) to the Utah County Sheriff's Office and scene investigators at Utah Valley (0:25) University.
This information was also conveyed to the FBI. Investigators (0:31) reviewed additional video footage from UVU surveillance and identified (0:36) Robinson arriving on UVU campus in a gray Dodge Challenger at approximately (0:41) 829 a.m. on September 10th, in which he is observed on video in a plain maroon (0:47) t-shirt, light colored shorts, a black hat with a white logo, and light colored (0:52) shoes. When encountered in person by investigators in Washington County on (0:56) September 12th, the early morning hours, Robinson was observed in consistent (1:01) clothing with those surveillance images.
Investigators interviewed a family (1:07) member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in (1:11) recent years. The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came (1:16) to dinner prior to September 10th and in the conversation with another family (1:20) member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why (1:26) they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had.
The family member also (1:30) stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate. The family member also (1:35) confirmed Robinson had a gray Dodge Challenger. Investigators identified an (1:40) individual as the roommate of Robinson.
Investigators interviewed that roommate (1:45) who stated that his roommate, referring to Robinson, made a joke on Discord. (1:50) Investigators asked if he would show them the messages on Discord. He opened it (1:54) and showed several messages to investigators and allowed investigators (1:58) to take photos of the screen as each message was shown by Robinson's roommate.
(2:03) These photos consisted of various messages including content of messages (2:07) between the phone contact named Tyler with an emoji icon and Robinson's (2:13) roommate's device. The content of these messages included messages affiliated (2:19) with the contact Tyler, stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, (2:25) leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to a to visually watching the (2:31) area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the (2:36) rifle wrapped in a towel. The messages also refer to engraving bullets and a (2:42) mention of a scope and the rifle being unique.
Messages from the contact Tyler (2:49) also mentioned that he had changed outfits. I know there has been speculation (2:56) as well as to the the writing on those casings, those those those bullet casings, (3:05) and I believe we have that as well, and I will share that with you now. So the area (3:15) north of Campus Drive Road where the suspect crossed over, you saw some of (3:19) that in the video that we released last night, consists of a grassy area with (3:23) trees on the edge of the UVU campus.
Investigators discovered a bolt-action (3:28) rifle wrapped in a dark colored towel. The rifle was determined to be a Mauser (3:33) Model 98 30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle. The rifle had a (3:39) scope mounted on top of it.
Investigators noted inscriptions that (3:43) had been engraved on casings found with the rifle. Inscriptions on a fired casing (3:49) read, notices bulges, capital O-W-O, what's this question mark. Inscriptions on the (3:57) three unfired casings read, hey fascist, exclamation point, catch, exclamation (4:03) point.
Up arrow symbol, right arrow and symbol, and three down arrow symbols. A (4:10) second unfired casing read, oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Ciao Ciao, and a (4:17) third unfired casing read, if you read this, you are gay, L-M-A-O. We are indebted (4:27) to law enforcement across the state who has worked seamlessly together, local law (4:33) enforcement, state law enforcement, and our federal partners with the (4:37) Federal Bureau of Investigation.
We're grateful for everyone who worked (4:41) together in in such a short amount of time to to find this person and to and (4:50) to bring justice. I want to thank the public who has been so engaged reviewing (4:55) reviewing videos, helping us with sending in tips, and helping us get to (5:01) this point. I want to thank the the family members of Tyler Robinson who did (5:08) the right thing in this case and were able to to bring him into to law (5:13) enforcement as well.
I especially want to thank the family of Charlie Kirk, Erica, (5:24) Charlie's parents, his children. I want us to be thinking of them as we bring (5:30) justice in this case. They will be involved in that justice.
We will be (5:35) working very closely with them as we move through this process as well. This (5:41) is a very sad day for, again, for our country, a terrible day for the state of (5:47) Utah, but I'm grateful that at this moment we have an opportunity to bring closure (5:52) to this very dark chapter in our nation's history.