Tyler Robinson, center, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in 4th District Court on January 16, 2026 in Provo, Utah. Prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder and plan to seek the death penalty. (Credit: Bethany Baker-Pool/Getty Images)
The Utah judge handling the case against Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin, Tyler Robinson, has just announced a ballistics report that showed that the bullet fragment could not be definitively linked to the suspected murder weapon — though the spent casing was confirmed as a match.
Prosecutors stated that a separate testing has found that the DNA on Robinson’s gun was also found on the towel that was wrapped around the rifle, along with three out of four rounds inside the gun.
Although the report from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had been made public in previous court proceedings, the document itself has now been released from the court, and it includes additional details.
Judge Tony Graf determined that there was no basis to keep the filing classified, as it found that it did not contain any “private or inflammatory information.”
The tested materials included a “deformed/damaged” piece of the bullet jacket along with four lead fragments that were partially included as an exhibit in a defense motion filed under seal on January 9th, which asked the judge to hinder the government from conducting further testing until a defense expert could examine and document the evidence.
The ATF report noted “inconclusive” findings which mean that “an examiner’s opinion that there is an insufficient quality and/or quantity of individual characteristics to identify or exclude.”
Two law enforcement sources that were well-versed in the investigation also told Fox News in March that the reason the AFT was unsuccessful at matching the bullet to the rifle was due to the bullet breaking apart on impact with Kirk’s body.
“It is not a win for the defense,” said retired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) supervisory agent, Jason Pack. “It is simply a gap the prosecution is now working to address by bringing in the FBI with more advanced technology.”
Ballistics are rarely the only piece of evidence in a homicide case, he added. And the unresolved findings only applied to the fragment, not the casing or the rifle found near the scene.