“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump said during a live interview on Fox News Channel on Friday morning. He added that a minister, who is also involved with law enforcement, turned in the suspect to authorities
Many paid respects to Charlie Kirk at a makeshift memorial on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. PIC/AFP
President Donald Trump on Friday said that the suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk has been captured.
“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump said during a live interview on Fox News Channel on Friday morning. He added that 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, according to news agency AP.
Kirk, the co-founder of political non-profit Turning Point USA and a close ally of Trump, was fatally shot on Wednesday in what police have described as a targeted attack. Utah’s Governor called it a political assassination. Authorities recovered a high-powered bolt-action rifle near the scene and said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into nearby woods after murdering Kirk.
The conservative political activist was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University in Orem when the attack occurred. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead hours later.
Federal investigators and state officials had released photos and video of the suspect on Thursday. More than 7,000 tips and leads had poured in, authorities said, according to AP. The suspect’s identity and motive have not yet been made public.
Grisly video spreads online
The attack, carried out in broad daylight, was captured on video and shared widely on social media. The footage shows Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when a single shot rings out. Kirk raises his right hand as blood pours from the left side of his neck, and stunned spectators scream and flee.
Authorities said the shooter blended into the crowd amid students. A video released on Thursday shows the suspect walking across the grass and street before disappearing. “I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent in Salt Lake City.
Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the attack, said he plans to award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the US.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City on Thursday. Vance posted a remembrance post on X, highlighting his friendship with Kirk since 2017 and through his Senate run and the 2024 election.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organise and convene,” Vance wrote, adding, He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where Turning Point USA is based. President Trump told reporters he plans to attend the funeral, though details have not been announced.
Kirk took questions on gun violence before shooting
Kirk was known to be a conservative provocateur and influential organiser among young Republicans. He frequently engaged in debates on college campuses. The shooting occurred immediately after he was taking questions from an audience member on gun violence.
The debate at the Sorensen Centre on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s ‘American Comeback Tour’. The event drew polarising reactions on campus, with an online petition urging the university to bar Kirk gathering nearly 1,000 signatures. The university reaffirmed its commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.
Some attendees who bolted after the gunshot barricaded themselves in classrooms. They used tables to block doors, crouched in corners for safety, and even tied an electric pencil sharpener to a chair leg to reinforce the barricade.
Nearby resident Kathleen Murphy said, “With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry.”
The attack drew swift bipartisan condemnation, with Democratic officials joining Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in denouncing the shooting, which comes amid a rise in political violence across the US affecting figures across ideologies and parties.
(With AP inputs)
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