ST. GEORGE, Utah — Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin Tyler Robinson was likely able to hone his skill at long-range shooting in the privacy of Utah’s expansive desert lands — and away from prying eyes, locals revealed.
Robinson took his grandfather’s scoped .30-06-caliber hunting rifle to the campus of Utah Valley University, three hours from his home, and fatally shot Kirk from a rooftop 140 yards away, prosecutors alleged on Tuesday.
“[J]udging from today I’d say grandpas gun does just fine idk. I think that was a $2k scope,” he allegedly bragged to his lover in a text message after the assassination.
There are no indoor shooting ranges near Robinson’s hometown of St. George that allow people to practice shooting at long range. But locals often disappear into the Mojave Desert to hunt and sight in their rifles.
“He would have needed to go outside to train at that range. Anyone is allowed to go out in the desert and practice shooting on public land outside the city,” said Shawn Wood, owner of Rowdy’s Range & Armory in the town of St. George.
Washington County is a scenic oasis on the Arizona border, surrounded on all sides by landscape straight out of a cowboy flick — rolling red rock hills, narrow gorges, and sandy plains.
The Utah Bureau of Land Management owns more than 600,000 acres of this desert in Washington County, leaving Robinson with no shortage of natural gun ranges to practice his killing shot.
Authorities have not released any details on how Robinson allegedly practiced for the shot — which was made at a distance that local hunters might shoot deer at.
The murder weapon is a bolt-action Mauser rifle — which requires the shooter to manually cycle the action in between shots. It has a telescopic sight, which helps the shooter see far away targets, again — a common feature on hunting rifles.
Robinson ditched the gun as he fled the scene after the shooting, authorities said.
Here’s the latest on the Charlie Kirk shooting in Utah
- Police identified Tyler Robinson, 22, as the alleged assassin who fatally shot Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
- Robinson was charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice.
- Law enforcement confirmed that Robinson was living with a transgender roommate, and communications between the two helping the feds catch the alleged assassin.
- Kirk, the 31-year-old Turning Point USA creator, was attending an event on his American Comeback Tour when he was fatally shot in the neck by a single shot.
- President Trump was among many who have called for the assassin to receive the death penalty.
- Kirk’s body was brought to Arizona from Utah on Air Force Two, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance, and taken to Phoenix’s Hansen Mortuary Chapel.
- Kirk’s funeral, which President Trump has promised to attend, is scheduled for Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals.
- Kirk, a rising MAGA star, is survived by his wife and two young children.
He planned to retrieve it from its hiding spot and bring it back home before anyone knew it was gone, according to text messages he allegedly sent to his lover in the hours after the assassination.
For households in this part of rural Utah, not owning a gun is less usual than owning one.
Wood recalled that when he was in high school, boys would bring hunting rifles to school and stash them in their lockers on the first day of deer hunting season.
Robinson was charged Tuesday with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice — three of the seven total counts. Prosecutors will push for the death penalty, which could be carried out via firing squad, if Robinson is convicted.
