Utah residents are reeling, knowing the Charlie Kirk suspect is one of their own [View all]
Source: NPR
September 13, 2025 11:51 AM ET
OREM, Utah — The arrest of Tyler Robinson sent shockwaves through the small community where his family lives. Washington, a city of around 30,000, sits next to St. George in Utah's southwest corner. It's a 3 ½-hour drive from the Utah Valley University campus.
The 22-year-old is the suspect in the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk during a Wednesday event at the campus in Orem. After a 33-hour manhunt, Robinson's family helped turn him in the following day. On Friday morning, after law enforcement released Robinson's name, officers from the Washington City Police and Washington County Sheriff's Office patrolled a quiet street, preventing onlookers from approaching the family's two-story gray stucco home.
'This is not who I wanted it to be'
Neighbor Kristin Schwiermann still couldn't believe the news as she walked by. "It was a shock that it was him," she says, "I feel sorry for his mother and his dad because that's not how they raised him." Schwiermann has lived a couple of houses down from the Robinsons for 16 years and has known the suspect since he was a little boy. She got to know the family when Tyler and his siblings attended the elementary school where she works.
"I really wanted them to find out who it was. This is not who I wanted it to be," she says. The Robinsons and Schwiermann had been part of the same local church, which, like most in this community, belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She hadn't seen the family at church much recently, though.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/13/nx-s1-5540130/utah-residents-are-reeling-knowing-the-charlie-kirk-suspect-is-one-of-their-own
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