US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the suspect had been taken into custody over the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk after a massive manhunt.
Somebody very close to him turned him in,” Trump told Fox News in a live studio interview. “The person was involved with law enforcement but was a person of faith, a minister, and brought him to a US Marshal who was fantastic.”
They drove into the police headquarters, and he’s there now.” He added, “We have the person that we think is the person we’re looking for.”
The gunman fired a single, fatal shot, killing Kirk—a 31-year-old who rallied youth support for Trump—during an appearance at a Utah university on Wednesday.
Hundreds of agents from across 20 law enforcement agencies were involved in the hunt.
Images released Thursday showed a man wearing Converse shoes, a black baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and what appeared to be jeans, with a long-sleeved top emblazoned with a design that included an American flag.
Police say they believe the shooter fired from a rooftop up to 200 yards (180 meters) away, hitting Kirk in the neck.
This screenshot taken from a video footage released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on September 11, 2025, shows a person of interest running on the lawn at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, immediately after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. (Photo by HANDOUT / AFP)
Video footage showed a figure running across a roof at the university, then jumping to the ground and making his way off campus towards some trees—apparently the location where a high-powered bolt-action rifle was recovered.