Does an image on social media platforms really show the bullet casing inscribed with 'Notices bulges OWO' found after the fatal shooting of activist Charlie Kirk in Utah? No, that's not true: The picture in question did not come from investigators, authorities or credible media organizations. Three online detectors determined that the image was likely created by AI and the inscription does not match the full text described by authorities.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on September 13, 2025. It opened:
The writing 'Notices bulge OwO' on the shell casing that murdered Charlie Kirk is a reference to the trans 'male to female' 'bulge'. His assassination was done in the name of transgenderism.
The post included an image. This is what it looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at x.com/DianaWallace888)
On September 12, 2025, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said that the words "notices bulges OWO what's this?" were part of the same inscription (archived here) on one of the bullet casings found with the gun. According to Know Your Meme (archived here), the phrase originated in 2013 as a parody of the furry community (archived here).
The image on X did not show the complete inscription: It lacked the final part, the question "what's this?"
The picture in question did not originate from official sources: A reverse image search on Google didn't show government or media websites publishing it -- the picture only appeared on user accounts on X.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of google.com)
Three online AI detectors -- Hive Moderation, AI or Not and InVid -- suggested that the image was the product of generative AI:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of hivemoderation.com)
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of aiornot.com)
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of the InVid plugin)
In addition, typical bullet casings of bullets that have been fired are open on the side the bullet was fired from. The item in the image appears to have a rim on both ends, also something definitely not typical of most known ammunition.
