The suspect in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk wrote a note saying he was going to “take out” the conservative commentator, the head of the FBI has said.
“I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it,” the note from Tyler Robinson read, according to FBI director Kash Patel.
“The note was written before the shooting, it was in the suspect's home,” Mr Patel said on Fox News.
“We have since learned the note - even though it was destroyed - we have found forensic evidence of the note and we have confirmed what the note said because our aggressive interview posture at the FBI,” he said on Monday.
He added that investigators have found DNA evidence linking alleged gunman Robinson to the scene of last week's shooting.
The suspect's DNA was found on a screwdriver as well as a towel that was wrapped around the firearm believed to have been used in the shooting, Mr Patel said during his Monday morning appearance on “Fox & Friends”.
“I can report today that the DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped around the firearm and the DNA on the screwdriver are positively processed for the suspect in custody,” he said.
Robinson is suspected of scaling a rooftop at Utah Valley University on Wednesday during an outdoor event and shooting Kirk in the neck at long range .
Mr Kirk, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump and co-founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, was killed by a single rifle shot during the event attended by 3,000 people in Orem, about 40 miles south (65 km) of Salt Lake City.
Robinson was taken into custody on Thursday following a huge manhunt.
He is not cooperating with authorities, but investigators are working to establish a motive for the shooting by talking to his friends and family, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said on Sunday.
One person who is apparently talking to investigators is Robinson's roommate, who was also a romantic partner, Cox said, citing the FBI.
Mr Cox described the roommate as “a male transitioning to female,” and said the roommate has been “incredibly cooperative.”
Asked on CNN's “State of the Union"” program whether the roommate's gender identity is relevant to the investigation, Mr Cox said: "That's what we're trying to figure out right now ... It's easy to draw conclusions from that, and so we've got the shell casings, other forensic evidence that is coming in - and trying to piece all of those things together."
Mr Cox said the alleged gunman would be formally charged on Tuesday. He remains in custody in Utah.
