‎Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer brought into custody after confessing to father

‎A 22-year-old from Utah has been arrested over the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead while on stage at a university event earlier this week.
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‎According to the BBC, Tyler Robinson was taken into custody late on Thursday, after a 33-hour manhunt that ended after his father helped persuade him to surrender to police.
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‎His arrest was first announced by US President Donald Trump, who called for the suspect to face the death penalty.
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‎The killing of Kirk, who was shot while debating students on Wednesday, has shocked Americans and laid bare the country’s sharp partisan divisions.
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‎Investigators said at a news conference on Friday that the suspect had confessed to his father and said he would rather take his own life than surrender. The father then called a youth pastor who is a family friend.
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‎Both men tried to calm the suspect down, police said. The pastor, who also serves as a court security officer, later called the US Marshals, who detained the suspect at around 22:00 local time on Thursday.
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‎Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox said surveillance images showed Mr Robinson arriving on the campus of Utah Valley University around four hours before a shot rang out, killing Kirk and sending students running for cover.
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‎Cox told journalists that when Mr Robinson was taken into custody, he was wearing clothing similar to what was seen on CCTV cameras at the scene of the shooting.
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‎The governor added that investigators had interviewed a family member, who said the suspect had become more political in recent years.
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‎Cox said the family member had spoken of a recent incident when Mr Robinson had mentioned that Kirk was coming to Utah and that he “was full of hate and spreading hate”.
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‎Cox said investigators had also spoken to a roommate of the suspect who had shown them exchanges of messages with an account named “Tyler” on the messaging app Discord.
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‎The messages referred to a need to retrieve a rifle from “a drop point” and the firearm being left in a bush, wrapped in a towel.
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‎The FBI said on Thursday that they had found the suspected weapon – an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt action rifle – wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near campus.
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‎Cox told reporters that inscriptions had been found engraved on casings recovered with the rifle, which had a scope mounted on top of it.
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‎The inscriptions included “hey fascist! CATCH!” and “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao”.
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‎”Bella ciao” means “goodbye beautiful” in Italian. It is also the title of a song dedicated to the Italian resistance that fought against the occupying troops of Nazi Germany.
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‎Utah’s governor said he was not aware of any potential further arrests in the investigation.
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‎State prosecutors said they planned to file formal charges against Mr Robinson on Tuesday.
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‎He is accused of aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and felony discharge of a firearm, according to a Utah County Sheriff inmate booking sheet obtained by the BBC.
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