In a recent development, attorneys for Tyler Robinson, who stands accused of killing Charlie Kirk, have hinted they might call an ATF agent to testify. This potential move comes after the agent’s ballistic findings were deemed inconclusive, creating uncertainty around the case’s key evidence.
“Regarding the firearm evidence, the defense has received an ATF summary indicating that the bullet retrieved during the autopsy could not be conclusively linked to the rifle allegedly associated with Mr. Robinson,” the defense stated in a motion seeking to vacate or delay the preliminary hearing. “While the prosecution has not expressed an intention to include this report in the upcoming hearing, we may decide to introduce the ATF firearm analyst’s testimony as exculpatory evidence.”
This statement suggests that Robinson’s defense team doubts whether prosecutors can definitively show that the bullet which killed Kirk was fired from the Mauser rifle found near the crime scene. Prosecutors claim this rifle bore Robinson’s DNA and was provided to him by his father.
Nonetheless, experts caution that inconclusive ballistic tests do not eliminate the possibility of a match. Furthermore, investigators have gathered additional evidence, including claims that Robinson confessed or implied his guilt to relatives and acquaintances.
During a hearing at the 4th District Court in Provo on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, Tyler Robinson appeared in connection with the charge of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk.
“It’s not unusual for a bullet to be difficult to trace back to a specific firearm after passing through a body, particularly if bones were struck,” explained Bernard Zapor, a former ATF special agent and current faculty associate at Arizona State University. “Bullets are designed to expend their kinetic energy upon impact, often fragmenting into pieces. Given that this bullet passed through bone, it’s expected that little would remain for analysis.”
As a result, it would be unfair to conclude that the bullet hadn’t been fired out of the rifle police recovered nearby, experts told Fox News Digital.
If the ATF had definitively ruled out Robinson’s rifle, that filing would say so in plain English, because that would be a bombshell. It doesn’t say that.
“Unable to identify is not the same as ruled out,” said retired FBI supervisor agent Jason Pack. “That’s a finding of inconclusiveness, not exoneration.”
Charlie Kirk was a conservative activist who led Turning Point USA. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)
Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation later told Fox News that the reason the ATF was unable to match the bullet to the rifle is because when the bullet impacted Kirk’s body it hit bone and broke on impact.
The forensic pathologist pulled fragments out of Kirk’s body, not an intact bullet. The sources said it is impossible to do ballistics analysis on a bullet fragment.
The testing did positively confirm that the spent shell casing found at the scene matched the suspected murder weapon.
“That’s a pretty significant piece of evidence for the prosecution,” Pack said. “And pretty damning for the defense.”
Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
According to the Utah County Prosecutor’s Office, Robinson arrived at Utah Valley University around 11:51 a.m. on Sept. 10, 2025, the day of Kirk’s murder. They allege he walked in through a tunnel under Campus Drive and climbed a staircase to the rooftop of the Losee Center, which overlooks the courtyard where Kirk was speaking.
At 12:20 p.m., a single bullet struck Kirk in the neck. Prosecutors have said campus police found marks left behind on the gravel rooftop moments after the shooting “consistent with a sniper having lain [there] — impressions in the gravel potentially left by the elbows, knees and feet of a person in a prone shooting position.”
Police later found the alleged murder weapon wrapped in a towel and hidden in a small patch of woods just off campus. Crime lab testing allegedly found DNA consistent with Robinson’s on the gun, on the towel and on three of the four rounds inside.
“To me that’s not problematic, but obviously the defense is gonna make big hay out of that, because they want to have the firearm removed from the case,” Zapor said. “If the shell casing has his DNA on it, [prosecutors] are solid.”
There are a number of reasons why the fired bullet may not have been a conclusive match, experts told Fox News Digital, and additional lab testing is pending.
Charlie Kirk (L) and his wife Erika Lane Frantzve (C) during the Turning Point USA Inaugural-Eve Ball at the Salamander Hotel on Jan. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
“Nobody outside the ATF lab knows why they couldn’t make the match yet because the defense still hasn’t received the underlying case file and protocols,” Pack told Fox News Digital. “Was the bullet too damaged? Was it a methodology question? That answer isn’t in the record right now.”
Other evidence in the case includes a text message conversation prosecutors allege Robinson had with his roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, after the shooting.
Robinson allegedly discussed wanting to retrieve a rifle before returning home from Orem, which is about a four-hour drive from where he lived in Washington County. Twiggs is cooperating with investigators and has not been charged with a crime.
In another message, Robinson allegedly wrote he was “stuck in Orem for a little while longer yet. Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.”
New security measures have been added to the area where the alleged assassin shot and killed Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. (Stepheny Price/Fox News Digital)
“You weren’t the one who did it right????” the roommate texted back.
“I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson allegedly replied.
Robinson faces a top charge of aggravated murder, which carries the potential death penalty upon conviction. He is also accused of felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.
While Robinson’s defense is seeking to put off his preliminary hearing for another six months, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, has filed a notice with the court invoking her right to seek a speedy trial as a victim under Utah law.
Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at an event as part of a national speaking tour and sponsored by the campus chapter of the organization, which promotes conservative principles among students across the country.
He was a married father of two.
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