Police have arrested a suspect in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college campus earlier this week.
Kirk, 31, a father of two, was speaking with students under a tent at Utah Valley University around 12:20 p.m. Wednesday when a single shot struck him in the neck. Video from the scene shows him collapsing from his chair as the crowd erupted in panic.
The event was hosted by the university’s chapter of Turning Point USA, the national conservative student organization Kirk founded.
“I think with a high-degree of certainty, we have him,” President Donald Trump revealed on Fox & Friends Friday morning. He added that, “essentially, someone who knew him turned him in.”
Trump said he hopes the suspect receives the death penalty if convicted. He added that investigators were led to the arrest with assistance from a minister, a U.S. Marshals Service member, and the suspect’s father.
“We have the person that we think is the person we’re looking for, but they drove into the police headquarters, and he’s there now,” Trump said.
Witnesses screamed and scrambled for cover after Kirk was shot in the neck. He was rushed to a hospital but did not survive.
Video circulating online appears to show a dark-clad figure on a rooftop. Investigators believe the fatal shot was fired from roughly 200 yards away, likely from the roof of the Losee Center building across the plaza from where Kirk was speaking.
