Charlie Kirk shooting suspect caught, says Trump

The suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination has been captured, President Donald Trump said Friday, representing a significant breakthrough in the investigation into a targeted killing that raised fresh alarms about political violence in the United States.

The suspect in custody in connection with Kirk's killing is a 22-year-old from Utah.

Authorities have identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately comment, but a news conference in Utah, where the killing took place on a college campus this week, was planned for later Friday.

News of the arrest came hours after the FBI and state officials had pleaded for public help by releasing additional photographs of the suspect, a move that seemed to indicate that law enforcement was uncertain of the person's whereabouts.

Kirk was killed by a single shot in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination.

Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, based in Arizona.