TRANSCRIPT
"We're at the Charlie Kirk event at UVU (Utah Valley University). He just got shot."
That's Creighton Baird, one of the thousands at Utah Valley University who witnessed the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at an event for the Turning Point USA organisation.
For almost two days, he and many others wondered who was responsible.
Authorities mounted a desperate search, with Robert Bowles as the FBI special agent in charge.
"As soon as we heard about the shooting, special agents and personnel from the Salt Lake field office responded immediately. We have full resources devoted to this investigation, including tactical, operational, investigative and intelligence."
Authorities quickly established they had found a rifle in the woods near the campus - and released a picture generated from CCTV and video footage of a person of interest.
In the early hours of this morning, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced another major breakthrough.
"We got him. On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to the family friend who contacted the Washington Country Sheriff's office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident. This information was relayed to the Utah County Sheriff's office and senior Investigators at Utah Valley University. This information was also conveyed to the FBI."
Authorities believe Tyler Robinson acted alone, and that he had no known prior criminal history.
Despite his parents being registered Republicans, it's been reported that the 22-year-old Utah resident appears to have had no apparent party affiliation himself and did not vote in the last two elections - though authorities say his family had noticed he'd become more 'political' in recent times and expressed a dislike for Charlie Kirk's beliefs.
FBI director Kash Patel says the investigation is still ongoing into his motives and background.
"This is very much an ongoing investigation, as the governor said, and we will continue to work with state and local authorities to develop the investigation, to provide them the evidence they need for their ongoing prosecutions. And we will be here to answer every call they absolutely have."
The Governor says that investigators have spoken with the family of Tyler Robinson in detail, as part of those inquiries.
Those interviews have established it was his father who recognised his picture and urged his son to surrender to authorities, contacting the family's youth pastor who had connections with the US Marshal to organise Robinson to hand himself in.
Investigators have also spoken with Robinson's roommate.
That roommate shared with authorities messages from the chatting app Discord that discussed items matching those found in a wooded area next to the university campus.
"The content of these messages included messages affiliated with the contact Tyler stating a need to retreat a riffle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel. The messages also referred to engraving bullets; and a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique."
Charlie Kirk's shooting has reverberated across the country because of his outsized influence in conservative circles, his close connections with Donald Trump and because of the questions it's raised about the escalating toll of political violence that has affected both Republican and Democratic politicians.
Some advocates have expressed concern that President Donald Trump is making things worse, raising the temperature by telling the Fox & Friends program that what he called the "radical left" were to blame for the increase in political violence.
"I'll tell you something that’s going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. They don't want to see crime. They're saying we don't want these people coming in. We don't want you burning our shopping centres. We don't want you shooting our people in the tree. The radicals on the left are the problem; and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy. Although they want men and women's sports, they want transgender for everyone, they want open borders."
But others - including Democrats and Republicans like the Utah governor Spencer Cox - have urged Americans not to use violence to resolve their differences - or use Charlie Kirk's death as part of a blame game between the left and right.
Scottsdale Arizona resident Damien Burnette is among those who say the violence and partisan hatred has to end.
"In this country, you should be able to express ideas. And if you disagree with them, that's what discussion's for and debate's for. It's really sad that this country's come to a point where on one side of the political aisle, if you say something that is disagreed with, you get killed."
The shooting has even reverberated outside of the US, including in Australia.
Local supporters of Charlie Kirk have held a vigil in Sydney, hundreds of people wearing red caps and draped in Australian flags gathering for the memorial organised by Joel Jammal, the head of the Australian branch of Turning Point, the conservative group that Mr Kirk grew with his prolific online presence.
Joel Jammal: "Vent your sadness. And I want this message to go out to the whole world. How strange is it, so far away."
Meanwhile, Australia's online safety regulator says school-aged children have accessed the unedited footage that shows the moment of Charlie Kirk's violent shooting death.
The eSafety Commissioner says at least one social media platform has voluntarily removed instances of the video - and it's urged others to be on the lookout.
Back in the US, formal charges are being filed against Tyler Robinson, and they're expected to include charges of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice.
Officials remain at the Robinson family home, as neighbours like Melissa Tait express their shock at the recent developments.
"I am very much in shock that this was so close to home. We have a really close-knit group of youth. And, you know, neighbour kids mow lawns and we go door-to-door. The kids still sell things door- to-door. They walk to school. So, in general, we have a really nice community right here. And I wouldn't be apprehensive at all to interact with them."
Utah's governor has also expressed surprise - going so far in his press conference to muse that at first he hoped an immigrant had been responsible.
"For 33 hours I was praying that if this had to happen here that it wouldn't be one of us. That somebody drove from another state, somebody came from a different country. Sadly that prayer was not answered the way I had hoped for, just because I thought it would make it easier on us."
