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EXCLUSIVE DETAILS: OREM, Utah — Tyler Robinson’s suspected path shows him entering and exiting campus at different points before he “made contact” with a police officer standing guard after the assassination of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, in an encounter that places him at Utah Valley University without relying on cellphone records, according to court documents, scene video and interviews with law enforcement sources.
Robinson arrived on campus wearing black around 11:51 a.m., entering through a tunnel under Campus Drive after parking his gray Dodge Challenger nearby and walking by the Utah Valley Institute of Religion on his way toward the Losee Center at the heart of campus.
Investigators retraced his movements with the help of the campus security camera network, a law enforcement source said.
He is believed to have scouted the area hours before the shooting before returning in a new set of clothes and armed with a .30-06 Mauser rifle — the suspected murder weapon.
CHARLIE KIRK’S ACCUSED ASSASSIN ENCOUNTERED BY POLICE DURING RETURN TO CRIME SCENE: LAW ENFORCEMENT SOURCES
Robinson allegedly used the rooftop above the Losee Center as a sniper’s perch and fired a single shot, which struck Kirk in the neck around 12:20 p.m. Prosecutors have said campus police found marks left behind on the gravel rooftop moments after the shooting “consistent with a sniper having lain [there] — impressions in the gravel potentially left by the elbows, knees and feet of a person in a prone shooting position.”
They also found impressions at the alleged sniper’s perch and muddy Converse footprints along his expected escape route, a source told Fox News Digital. Surveillance images previously released by the FBI appear to show the suspect wearing similar sneakers.
As the crowd below panicked, Robinson allegedly ran north across the rooftop, dropped to the ground and sprinted across Campus Drive, where he narrowly avoided being struck by a passing van, the source said.
Police later found the alleged murder weapon wrapped in a towel and hidden in a small patch of woods just a few feet from where he is believed to have crossed the street.
EX-FBI AGENT TURNED UVU PROFESSOR BREAKS DOWN THE EVIDENCE TRAIL TYLER ROBINSON LEFT FOR DETECTIVES
Prosecutors released excerpts from a text message conversation they say Robinson had with his roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, that occurred at an unspecified time on the evening of Sept. 10, in which Robinson allegedly discussed wanting to retrieve a rifle before returning home from Orem, which is about a four-hour drive from where he lived in Washington County.
Twiggs is cooperating with investigators and has not been charged with a crime.
While law enforcement searched the area, Robinson texted Twiggs, telling him to “look under my keyboard,” according to court documents.
The roommate found and photographed a note there that read, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.” Twiggs later shared the image with detectives.
EX-FBI AGENT TURNED UVU PROFESSOR BREAKS DOWN THE EVIDENCE TRAIL TYLER ROBINSON LEFT FOR DETECTIVES
In another message, Robinson allegedly wrote he was “stuck in Orem for a little while longer yet. Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.”
“You weren’t the one who did it right????” the roommate texted back.
“I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson allegedly replied.
WHO IS TYLER ROBINSON? WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT CHARLIE KIRK’S SUSPECTED ASSASSIN
“I thought they caught the person?” Twiggs wrote, according to court documents.
“No, they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in similar clothing,” came another alleged reply from Robinson. “I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. Its (sic) quiet, almost enough to get out, but theres (sic) one vehicle lingering.”
Later in the conversation, he allegedly reiterated that he was looking for a chance to grab the rifle: “There is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don’t wanna chance it.”
TIMELINE OF CHARLIE KIRK’S ALLEGED ASSASSIN FROM CAMPUS SHOOTING TO SHERIFF’S OFFICE SURRENDER
Eventually, he allegedly wrote that, “I’m wishing I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle… I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back grandpas (sic) rifle.”
Hours after the shooting, an officer standing watch over the perimeter “made contact” with Robinson nearby. He allegedly told the officer he needed to get something from near the garage, according to the source.
That wasn’t deemed suspicious at the time because hundreds of people had fled in a panic after the shooting, and many of them left belongings behind. But the officer did a routine check on Robinson’s plate, which investigators saw in the system later, once they had identified him as a potential suspect, placing him in the area, the source said.
Prosecutors sent the gun to a crime lab for testing, and allegedly found DNA consistent with Robinson’s on the gun, on the towel it was wrapped in, and on three of the four rounds inside.
Robinson faces charges including aggravated murder, which carries the potential death penalty if convicted, felony discharge of a firearm, witness tampering and obstruction.
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Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at an event as part of a national speaking tour and sponsored by the campus chapter of the organization, which promotes conservative principles among students across the country.
He was a married father of two.
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