By Allan Lengel
Utah resident Tyler James Robinson, a 22-year-old student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George, Utah, was arrested late Thursday in connection with the high-profile assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
Robinson allegedly confessed to the shooting to a family member, who told a friend. That friend then contacted authorities, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said at a Friday morning news conference. Authorities said Robinson surrendered to authorities.
Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder, obstruction of justice and a weapons count , according to the Washington Post.
Authorities recovered on campus a bolt-action hunting rifle with a scope.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
“Authorities, friends and even his own family were trying to understand how Robinson went from a top student raised by parents who were registered Republicans in a Mormon stronghold in southwest Utah to a suspected assassin who authorities said targeted one of the country’s most popular conservative youth leaders. Robinson was in the past registered as nonpartisan.”
He grew up hunting and was familiar with guns, the Journals reported.
