OREM, Utah: President Donald Trump said on Friday (Sep 12) that the suspect in the Charlie Kirk killing has been captured.
“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News on Friday morning.
Trump said a minister who is also involved with law enforcement turned in the suspect to authorities.
“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.
Kirk was killed by a single shot on Wednesday in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organisation Turning Point USA and was a close ally of Trump.
Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the woods after the shooting.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead hours later.
Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem.
More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.
