JUST IN: Judge Unseals ATF Ballistics Report In Charlie Kirk Case

A Utah judge has unsealed a federal ballistics report in the case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, a disclosure that underscores one stubborn reality in gun cases: bullets don’t always come out clean.

The newly public report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says examiners could not conclusively match a bullet fragment recovered during the investigation to the suspected murder weapon. But the same report did confirm a match between the spent casing and the rifle prosecutors say Robinson used.

The conclusions had been referenced in earlier court proceedings. What’s new is the document itself, which includes additional detail on what was tested, including a “deformed/damaged” piece of a bullet jacket and four lead fragments.

The report surfaced as an exhibit attached to a defense motion filed under seal Jan. 9. The motion sought to block the government from further testing until a defense expert could examine and photograph the evidence. Judge Tony Graf ruled there was no basis to keep the filing sealed, finding it did not include any “private or inflammatory information.”

An appendix to the ATF report explains that “inconclusive” findings mean it was “an examiner’s opinion that there is an insufficient quality and/or quantity of individual characteristics to identify or exclude.”

Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News last month the ATF could not match the bullet to the rifle because the projectile struck bone and broke on impact. Experts say that kind of damage is not uncommon.

“It is not a win for the defense,” retired FBI supervisory agent Jason Pack said. “It is simply a gap the prosecution is now working to address by bringing in the FBI with more advanced technology.”

🚨🇺🇸 Update on the Charlie Kirk case: The ATF forensic report is out.

The bullet that killed him was a .30-caliber fragment consistent with Tyler Robinson’s Mauser 98 rifle, but too deformed for a definitive match.

Officially inconclusive.

The spent cartridge case?… https://t.co/N6gaEOldZF pic.twitter.com/tOFGKntzxv

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 16, 2026

Ballistics are rarely the only evidence in a homicide case, he added, and the inconclusive finding applied to the fragment, not the casing or the rifle recovered near the scene.

“The defense here is doing exactly what good defense lawyers are supposed to do, protecting their client’s ability to challenge evidence before it gets further altered,” Pack told Fox News Digital. “That is not a sign the prosecution’s case is weak.”

The ATF also examined a .30-06 cartridge case that investigators wrote “was identified as having been fired in the Exhibit 1 rifle.” Prosecutors have identified that rifle as Robinson’s grandfather’s Mauser.

“We are a long way from trial, and the public should pump the brakes before drawing big conclusions from a single pre-trial motion about a single bullet fragment,” Pack added.

Robinson is accused of shooting Kirk during a Turning Point USA event in September 2025. Prosecutors say he climbed to a rooftop across a courtyard from where Kirk was speaking and fired a single shot. Kirk was struck in the neck in front of a crowd of roughly 3,000 people and later died.

Prosecutors also have alleged separate testing found DNA consistent with Robinson’s on the gun, on the towel and on three of the four rounds inside. Investigators say campus police found marks on the gravel rooftop “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.”

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Police recovered the rifle wrapped in a blanket in a patch of woods near campus, prosecutors said. They also allege text messages between Robinson and his romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, discuss wanting to retrieve the rifle.

“Stuck in Orem for a little while longer yet,” Robinson allegedly wrote in the hours after the murder. “Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still.”

Twiggs is cooperating with investigators and has not been charged.

Robinson is due in court Friday for a hearing on his motion to exclude news cameras from future proceedings. He could face the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.

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