Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Friday that a suspect in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk is in police custody, identifying the alleged shooter as Tyler Robinson.
Previously:
President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that a suspect had been apprehended.
“I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” Trump said in a “Fox & Friends” interview. “Everyone did a great job. We worked with the local police, the governor. Everybody did a great job.”
The president didn’t give many details about the apprehension. Trump said that he was informed that a suspect was in custody minutes before going on air.
“But I’m just giving you based on what I’m hearing,” Trump said. “I just heard about it five minutes before I walked in. As I’m walking in, they said, ‘Looking real good. They have the person that they wanted.’”
The FBI released photos and video of a suspected shooter Thursday. On Wednesday, hours after Kirk was shot, FBI Director Kash Patel suggested the shooter was in custody, only to update the public later that the person had been released after law enforcement interviewed him.
Trump said Friday that “someone close to” the suspected shooter had turned him in, referencing both “a minister who was involved with law enforcement” and the suspect’s father.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Thursday that the state was prepared to pursue the death penalty against the shooter. Trump said Friday he would support such a sentence.
“Well, I hope he’s going to be found guilty, I would imagine. And I hope he gets to death. What he did — Charlie Kirk, was the funniest person. He didn’t deserve this,” Trump said.
Kirk, a conservative political activist and close ally of the president, was shot at a campus event at Utah Valley University Wednesday. The shooting sent shockwaves through the country, amid repeated incidents of political violence.