Person in custody in shooting of Charlie Kirk, Trump says
A person is in custody in the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump said on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning, according to ABC News.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” Trump said.
He later added, “Subject to change but the facts are the facts we have the person that we think is the person we’re looking for.”
Trump said he was told just five minutes before he went on air for the prescheduled interview that someone was in custody.
“Essentially, somebody that was very close to him turned him in,” Trump said.
Trump said the father of the suspect went to authorities and convinced the son “and this is it,” the president said.
Law enforcement has yet to confirm the arrest or provide any details.
Trump reiterated in the interview that the shooter should get the death penalty.
“In Utah, you have death penalty, and a good governor there, I have gotten to know him,” Trump said of Gov. Spencer Cox. “The governor is intent on the death penalty in this case and he should be.”
In the latest video of the suspect, which was played during a news conference with state and federal officials Thursday evening, the apparent gunman can be seen climbing down from the roof of a building on the campus of Utah Valley University where authorities believe he fired the fatal shot and fled rom the scene.
The FBI said it was offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person responsible for Kirk’s murder.
Utah authorities released photos of the person of interest in the shooting on Thursday in which the individual can be seen walking up the stairs to the top of the building where the shooting took place while carrying a black backpack and wearing a shirt with what appeared to be an American flag print on it.
So far authorities have received more than 7,000 tips and leads and completed some 200 interviews, Cox said Thursday.
Amid the manhunt for the shooter, officials said Thursday they are working “around the clock” to locate the person of interest, who is believed to be college-aged.
The FBI also said Thursday it has recovered what is believed to be the weapon used in the deadly shooting. A “high-powered bolt action rifle” was recovered in a wooded area near where the shooting took place, according to Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls.
MNA
