US President Donald Trump has told Fox News that the suspect in the shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk has been taken into custody.
The founder of conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA was killed when he shot in the neck after single shot rang out at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday (USA time).
Kirk, a key supporter of President Donald Trump and his ‘Make American Great Again (MAGA)’ movement, was holding one of his regular sessions where he invited people to debate his conversative views. The 31 one year old’s death was announced by the US President just a short time after the incident.
On Friday law enforcement officials later released an image of a man they were seeking in the relation to the killing, and later in the day shared video of the suspected shooter climbing down from the roof of one of the university campus buildings.
Speaking to Fox News President Trump said someone “very close to him turned him in.”
In the wake of Kirk’s death President Trump announced that he would be posthumously awarded the USA’s highest civilian order, The Presential Medal of Freedom.
The President also said he hoped the killer would be given the death penalty.
“I hope he’s gonna be found guilty, I would imagine, and I hope he gets the death penalty for what he did.”
Utah’s governor Spencer Cox has also noted the state enforces the death penalty.
Police believe the shooter targeted Kirk from a roof about 180 metres from where Kirk was speaking in a open tent. Police found a high powered bolt action shotgun in the wooded area the man was seen fleeing to on CCTV.
Shortly after the President made the announcement of an arrest media outlets reported that suspected shooter as being Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah local.
Media reports suggest that Robinson confessed his involvement to his father who works in law enforcement.
Robinson will be the third person taken in to custody as a suspect, the previous two were released after police recognised they had no involvement.
12-09-2025 11:55pm An earlier version of this report noted that the initial information about Robinson suggested he was a student at the Utah Valley University. At a media conference later in the day authorities confirmed he had not been a student.
