‘Cryptic meaning’ behind engravings found on bullets used to fatally shoot Charlie Kirk

The potential meanings behind the cryptic messages engraved onto the bullets in the Charlie Kirk case have been revealed.

Turning Point USA founder and Donald Trump's ally, Kirk, was shot during a college rally in Utah on Wednesday (10 September).

The 31-year-old right-wing influencer was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University, as onlookers watched on in horror, while he was in the middle of answering a question about gun violence.

In a press conference on Friday (12 September), the FBI revealed they had a suspect in custody - 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice.

As officials shared the huge update, they also revealed some chilling details in the case, including that the bullets involved were engraved with messages - one that shot Kirk and others that were recovered near the scene.

Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at a university event in Utah last week and a suspect is now in custody (The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

One read: “Hey fascist! Catch!” While another said: “Oh, Bella ciao,” and a third was inscribed with: “Notices, bulges, OWO, what's this?”

But what does this all mean?

'notices, bulges, OWO, what's this?'

This appears to be a reference to a 'copypasta' - a piece of text that is repeated over and over again, often to troll people on social media.

Within the furry community, OwO is reportedly supposed to represent a cute face, with the Os as eyes and the W as a mouth.

However, outside of this group, it's often used as a way to troll and mock people within that community, Sky News reports.

According to the publication, it's also common for phrases used by people who are 'extremely online' to have multiple meanings, so there is no real way of knowing for sure.

22-year-old Tyler Robinson is accused of assassinating Kirk (PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty Images)

'Hey, fascist! Catch ↑ → ↓↓↓'

Another bullet casing read 'Hey, fascist! Catch,' followed by a series of arrows - one going up, one going right, and then three going down.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox said the writing referring to a fascist 'speaks for itself'.

While the second half of the message has been explained by some gamers, who believe they know the meaning behind the arrows.

They appear to refer to the popular video game Helldivers 2 and its sequence of controller moves that are used to unleash a powerful bomb in the game, according to the New York Times.

Steve Iannelli, 38, an experienced player of the game, told the outlet: "It’s a joke in the Helldivers community that you can shut down any argument you disagree with by entering ^ > vvv and blowing the whole thing up."

Meanwhile, the game itself is thought to have been interpreted as a satire of fascism.

The player of the satirical science fiction game battles an alien invasion on behalf of an Earth that is 'ruled by a thinly veiled fascistic government', reports the publication.

On Friday, the FBI held a press conference to reveal details of the case (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

'Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao'

This bullet casing seems to be referencing the classic Italian song 'Bella Ciao', which became associated with anti-fascism during Benito Mussolini's dictatorship.

It gets sung annually on 25 April during Italy's Liberation Day to commemorate the liberation of Italy from the fascist regime and Nazi occupation.

The song has also become more popular in recent years as it featured in Netflix's Spanish television series, Money Heist.

Its origins are thought to date back to the late 19th century, with the tune reportedly being sung by rice field workers during long days of poorly paid labour.

After it became an anti-fascist anthem in WWII, the lyrics appear to describe a young partisan who leaves his lover to join the militia, as per MailOnline.

'If you read this, you are gay lmao'

According to Lindsay Hahn, a University at Buffalo associate professor, this message appears to be a childish insult that seems to be part of a bid to be talked about.

She told NBC: "But what they do indicate, is that the shooter wanted to get a message across and therefore be talked about online.

“It sort of seems like these messages, at the very minimum, were selected because he knew they were going to be talked about."