The suspected gunman who assassinated conservative activist and close Trump ally, Charlie Kirk, is now in custody, President Trump said on Friday.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck during an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University Wednesday.
The news comes a day after the FBI and Utah Department of Safety released new footage Thursday showing a suspect jumping from a rooftop at Utah Valley University before fleeing into nearby trees moments later.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump told Fox & Friends on Friday. The president said that “somebody close” to the suspect turned him in.
A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that the suspect in custody is a 22-year-old from Utah. Authorities identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, the official said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
A press conference is expected to take place Friday morning in Utah.
Authorities also shared new images of the suspect, clearly showing he was wearing a long-sleeve black shirt with an American flag on it. He was also wearing dark pants, canvas shoes, a blue cap, a black backpack and sunglasses.
The FBI has asked the public for help in capturing Kirk’s assassin, offering a large sum of money.
“The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the individual(s) responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk,” the agency wrote on X.
What we know about the suspect and manhunt
The suspected gunman was still at large Thursday. FBI Special Agent in Charge in Salt Lake City, Robert Bohls, said the shooting was a “targeted event.”
Law enforcement confirmed they had recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle in a wooded area near the campus at a Thursday morning press conference.
Ammunition inside the rifle was engraved with messages of transgender and antifascist ideology, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a law enforcement bulletin and a source familiar with the investigation.
When asked about the reported engravings, a spokesperson for the FBI told The Independent: “As this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI declines to comment.”
The bulletin, which has not been verified, said that the .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle was discovered wrapped in a towel not far from the campus, according to The Washington Post.
Later on Thursday, a senior law enforcement official told the New York Times that preliminary reports on the shooter's ammunition “might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.”
Video footage of the suspect, who “appears to be of college age” and “blended in” with students on campus, is being analyzed, Mason said earlier Thursday.
The suspect was seen on video arriving on campus at 11:52 a.m. From there, he moved through stairwells and onto a roof, investigators said. He was later seen moving across the roof and jumping off the building to flee campus.
Investigators have gone into the nearby neighborhoods to collect any doorbell camera footage of the suspect.
“We’re not sure how far he has gone yet,” Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said Thursday.
Unverified videos posted on social media appeared to show a person on the roof of a building. Clips appear to show a person crouching or lying on the roof.
Officials believe the gunman shot from the Losee Center, around 150 yards from where Kirk was speaking.
Officials asked the public to share any more videos or images that may help identify the person. Authorities have not commented on a potential motive in the killing.
Mason also urged the public to avoid harassing two persons of interest who were detained in the immediate aftermath of the shooting but later released.
One of the two people detained was an older man seen in photos that circulated online shortly after the killing. Officials said he had been charged with obstruction by university police. The other man had been initially described by officials as a “person of interest” but was also let go.
Utah Valley University’s campus will remain closed until Monday and all classes have been canceled until further notice, the university said.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, President Donald Trump called Kirk’s killer an “animal.”
“He’s an animal, total animal, and hopefully they’ll have him, and they’ll get him,” Trump said as he departed the White House for New York.
Kirk, a close ally of Trump, was hosting a student-sponsored event with his organization, Turning Point USA, on Wednesday afternoon at Utah Valley University in Orem, a suburb of Provo, Utah.
The conservative media personality was on the first stop of a tour of college campuses, dubbed the “American Comeback Tour,” to speak with young Republican voters.
Shortly after noon, a single gunshot was heard ringing out. Footage from the scene showed Kirk’s body convulsing as blood spurted from his neck.
The large crowd of young conservatives appeared momentarily stunned, then quickly ducked down, running and screaming.
Kirk was lifted up by his security team and carried to a waiting SUV. He was rushed to the hospital, and Trump later announced his death.
Kirk leaves behind his wife, Erika Lane Kirk, and their two young children.
His coffin was transported to his home in Arizona on Air Force Two with Vice President JD Vance Thursday.
Trump announced during a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon earlier in the day Kirk would posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, considered the highest civilian award.
When asked Thursday if he was concerned for his own safety, Trump, who was the target of two assassination attempts during the 2024 election cycle, said, “Not really.”
“I’m really concerned for our country. We have a great country. We have a radical left group of lunatics out there,” Trump said outside the White House. “And we’re gonna get that problem solved.”
Kirk’s campus event was ‘met with divided opinion’
Kirk was hosting his organization’s “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot.
The event was met with divided opinions on campus ahead of time.
An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. There were reportedly around 3,000 at Kirk’s event.
The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
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