In southern Utah, friends and neighbors try to understand, who is Tyler Robinson?

WASHINGTON CITY, Utah — Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer, Tyler James Robinson, is currently being held in the Utah County Jail, but he grew up here, in the southwest corner of the state.

A town of just over 37,000 people a four-hour drive south of Salt Lake City, Washington City is situated in the middle of the dramatic red rocks of southern Utah, about 30 minutes away from Zion National Park. It’s full of well laid-out stucco homes, many of them recently built, with American flags blowing gently from their porches.

People in Robinson’s neighborhood and those he grew up with expressed shock and grief to the Deseret News, reacting to the news just hours after Robinson was identified by authorities on Friday morning.

Outside his parents’ home in Washington City, law enforcement officers blocked off the street with vehicles.

Siblings Victoria and Colby Cannon live in the area and came to see the house, after seeing police cars and hordes of journalists in the area. Both Victoria and Colby were big fans of Charlie Kirk and were shocked when they realized the suspected shooter was from nearby.

Another woman standing on her front lawn only a few doors down from the Robinsons’ had a reporter park in front of her driveway. She expressed sympathy for the family and wished they were given more space.

A prominent conservative activist and organizer, Kirk was shot and killed during a “Prove Me Wrong” debate at Utah Valley University on Wednesday around noon. Just a few hours later he was pronounced dead at Timpanogos Regional Hospital.

Robinson was apprehended at 10 p.m. on Thursday night, after a statewide manhunt was carried out. Local, state and federal law enforcement officers combed through video, tips and forensic evidence as they searched for Kirk’s killer.

Robinson is believed to have climbed to the roof of the Losee Center, a building next to the grassy amphitheater at UVU where Kirk was interacting with 3,000 students and visitors.

Video and images released of the shooter were recognized by members of his family, who were praised by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox for being willing to turn him in.

Investigators also spoke to Robinson’s roommate, who lived with him at an apartment in St. George and has not been identified.

According to Cox, the roommate said Robinson communicated with him on Discord, a social media platform that is popular with young gamers.

Cox said the roommate told investigators Robinson said he had left a gun wrapped in a towel in a wooded area next to the college campus.

The bullet casings and bullets in the gun were engraved with anti-fascist messages, Cox said, including, “Hey, Fascist! Catch!” and another that said “If you read this, you are gay, lmao,” among others.

A fellow Boy Scout

Tate Conrad, also from Washington City, grew up with Robinson, and is enrolled in the same college program at Dixie Technical College in St. George. He is worried about Robinson’s family and the hate they are getting online.

Conrad is a year younger than Robinson; they met in the same Boy Scout troop in middle school.

Conrad started an electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Tech this fall, where Robinson is in his third year.

As a kid, Conrad said Robinson was “quiet, obviously, but he was a really nice kid. He was always genuine. He wasn’t a loner — he’d be by himself, but if you reached out to him, he’d just be there, and he’d join the conversation.”

Conrad said Robinson fit in with the other Boy Scouts in their troop. “He was friends with all of us. Nobody disliked him. Nobody hated him. He was a good kid,” he said.

They both also attended Pine View High School in St. George.

When Conrad saw Robinson at Dixie Tech last week, he said, “He looked totally the same. Same old Tyler.”

Robinson attended Utah State University for one semester in 2021, after receiving the presidential scholarship, worth $32,000.

He was also exceptionally bright, scoring a 34 out of 36 on the ACT college aptitude test, according to a post from his mom on Facebook.

It isn’t clear why he left USU.

During a press conference Friday morning, Cox said a family member told law enforcement about a conversation at a family gathering prior to Sept. 10, where Robinson mentioned Kirk was coming to UVU.

The family member said that Robinson had become more political in recent years, Cox said.

During a conversation at the gathering, Robinson mentioned Kirk’s viewpoints, and said Kirk “was full of hate and spreading hate,” Cox said.

The Guardian reported that a high school friend of Robinson’s, who asked to remain anonymous, said Robinson was “pretty left on everything” and was “the only member of his family that was really leftist.” The friend said the other members of Robinson’s family were Republicans.

The friend told the Guardian, “I knew he (Robinson) had strong political views, but I never thought it would even go near that far.”

According to state records, Robinson is a registered voter in the state of Utah but is not affiliated with a political party and apparently hasn’t voted in the last two election cycles.

What was it like to find out that Tyler Robinson is Kirk’s suspected killer?

“It was shocking, honestly,” Conrad said, when asked how he reacted to the news of Robinson’s arrest. “I didn’t know he was a person capable of something so violent. And it’s hard to digest, because I love Charlie Kirk, and he was an awesome figure.”

Kirk was one of Conrad’s idols, he’s been listening to him for a year. “Charlie Kirk was somebody who stood for what he believed in. He loved God. And he was just trying to have peaceful interactions with the world,” Conrad said.

Though Conrad has lost family members and friends close to him before, losing Kirk was different. It felt “like a piece of me was gone,” Conrad said. “It feels like we lost a light, a beacon for hope, because he helped a lot of people my age who were confused and wanted somebody they could talk to.”

Kirk displayed patience, Conrad said. “That man was a saint. You could see people yelling and screaming at him, and he’d just be sitting there with a smile on his face, having the best time of his life.”

Robinson’s 11-year-old neighbor reacts to news

Standing next to his father Cory and little brother Beckham near Robinson’s apartment in St. George, Aiden Bartley, 11, recalled talking to Robinson and being surprised and confused after finding out that a man he had met is Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.

In March, Aiden knocked on every single door in his neighborhood, selling chocolate bars for a school fundraiser.

“He was really nice,” Aiden said, adding, “He bought, like, three chocolate bars. One was wafer.”

Aiden said the other kids in his class are really sad about Kirk’s death as well.

Cory Bartley had been following Charlie Kirk for the past five or six years. He was shocked to find out that Robinson lived just a couple doors away. “Small world,” he said. “It’s so crazy.”

The Bartleys live near Robinson’s apartment in St. George, where he had at least one roommate.

In Washington City, Robinson’s father recognized him from the images released by law enforcement officials and told his son to turn himself in. At first he resisted, according to the Associated Press, but then he changed his mind.

Robinson was arrested for aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice.