The man accused of killing conservative commentator Charlie Kirk got the gun authorities say he used in the fatal Utah Valley University shooting from his grandfather, according to charging documents filed Tuesday.
The suspect also described the messages he allegedly engraved into bullet casings that authorities later recovered from the scene as “mostly a big meme.”
Prosecutors held a news conference Tuesday after formally filing charges against Tyler James Robinson, 22, in connection with Kirk’s killing. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray, who is leading the prosecution, said they intend to seek the death penalty.
According to a probable cause statement filed after Robinson was first arrested early Friday, the gun used in the shooting was a Mauser Model 98, .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle with a mounted scope. The hunting-style rifle is able to hold five rounds.
Robinson originally received the gun from his grandfather, according to prosecutors. The charging documents also detail a series of text messages Robinson sent his roommate, whom police have said was in a “romantic relationship” with Robinson and is transgender.
“Judging from today,” Robinson wrote in one text, “I’d say grandpa’s gun does just fine.”
The scope on the gun, he added with two winking emojis, was a “$2k scope.”
[Read more: Tyler James Robinson charged: Charlie Kirk shooting suspect faces death penalty]
Gray said during the Tuesday news conference that the rifle, once discovered by investigators, contained one spent round and three unspent rounds.
“This is consistent with the facts officers observed at the time of and immediately after the shooting,” he said. “No shell casings were found on the roof, suggesting a bolt-action rather than an auto-loading weapon, and only a single round was fired.”
All four of the rounds were etched with messages, according to Gray and the charging documents.
The spent round read, “NoTices Bulge OWO What’s This?”
The unspent rounds read, “Hey Fascist! Catch! [arrow symbols]” — seemingly a reference to the video game Helldivers 2 — “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao Bella ciao Ciao, ciao!” and “If you Read This, You Are GAY Lmao.”
In a text to his roommate, Robinson described the messages as “mostly a big meme,” and added, “if I see ‘notices bulge uwu’ on fox new I might have a stroke.”
Gray said Tuesday that investigators noticed Robinson, in security footage of the Kirk event at UVU, “walking with an unusual gait.”
“The suspect walks with very little bending in his right leg, consistent with a rifle being hidden in his pants,” Gray said as he described a play-by-play of the shooting and investigation. “This unusual gait continues until the suspect is seen crossing the railway off the open walkway and onto the roof, where he leaves the camera’s view.”
The cameras then captured Robinson running across the roof to the suspected shooting position, then running across the roof carrying “an item whose shape is consistent with a rifle,” Gray said.
Gray said Tuesday that investigators later found the rifle wrapped in a towel in a nearby wooded area, where they searched after seeing footage of Robinson jumping off the roof and seemingly dropping — then picking up — the rifle.
In texts to his roommate, Robinson expressed concern about leaving the gun behind and described inquires from his father about the weapon’s whereabouts.
“If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence,” he initially wrote. “Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.”
He added that he wished he had circled back and grabbed the gun as soon as he’d gotten to his car.
“I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back grandpas rifle,” he wrote. “idek if it had a serial number, but it wouldn’t trace to me. I worry about prints I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits. didn’t have the ability or time to bring it with.”
Robinson wrote soon after that he “might have to abandon” the gun and hoped investigators did not find fingerprints on the rifle. He then expressed concern about how he would explain the loss of the gun to his father.
Soon after, according to the text messages prosecutors cited in charging documents, Robinson’s father reached out to ask for photos of the gun.
“my dad wants photos of the rifle,” Robinson wrote. “he says grandpa wants to know who has what, the feds released a photo of the rifle, and it is very unique. Hes calling me rn, not answering.”
Robinson was charged Tuesday with seven offenses and later made a remote initial appearance in 4th District Court in Provo on Tuesday afternoon. He is being held without bail in Utah County jail.