Tyler Robinson may have revealed details about his evil slaying of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk to his roommate — sending app messages including about the “need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point,” according to court papers.
Officials said the roommate showed them the messages from a contact he had named “Tyler” — and that some of them also described engravings on bullet casings.
Robinson, 22, is accused of engraving the casing of the bullet he used to kill Kirk — and three other casings — with messages such as, ”Hey fascist! catch!”
When investigators contacted the roommate, he said Robinson “made a joke on Discord,” a social messaging app, which caused law enforcement to ask him to show them the messages, according to an arrest affidavit.
The messages from “Tyler” stated a “need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel,” the affidavit shows.
Other messages “also refer to engraving bullets” and how the rifle was “unique,” according to law enforcement.
“Messages from contact Tyler also mention that he had changed outfits,” the affidavit states.
After the shooting, the suspect was spotted on surveillance footage fleeing the roof where he allegedly fired the fatal shot at Kirk.
Authorities later recovered a bolt action rifle wrapped in a dark colored towel in a wooded area near campus, according to law enforcement.
The communications with the roommate are part of the evidence gathered by police that helped pave the way to an aggravated murder charge against Robinson on Friday after his capture the evening before.
But Discord is disputing the information that the officials were pushing out Friday, claiming its investigation showed while Robinson had a Discord account, there’s “no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord,” according to reports.
“The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages,” the company said. “These were communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.
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“We have removed the suspect’s account for violating our off-platform behavior policy.”
Robinson turned himself in after his own father confronted him about the shooting and after getting in touch with a youth minister, according to law enforcement.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said during a press conference Friday the arrest helped “bring closure to this very dark chapter in our nation’s history.”
“This is a very sad day for our country,” he said. “A terrible day for the state of Utah.”
