The suspected killer of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk is in custody, officials have revealed.
“We got him,” said Utah Governor Spencer Cox at the start of a press conference on Friday.
The Republican said that a family friend of suspect Tyler Robinson had contacted Washington County sheriff’s office “with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident”.
Mr Cox said inscriptions on unfired bullet casings found at the scene of the shooting included one which said: “Hey fascist! Catch!"
Robinson has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious injury and obstruction of justice.
The press conference in Orem, Utah, where Mr Kirk was shot dead on Wednesday, came shortly after Donald Trump disclosed in a TV interview there was a “high degree of certainty” that the suspected killer was in custody.
The US President said "someone very close" to the suspect has turned him in and confirmed more details would be issued later on Friday.
US news outlets have reported Robinson’s father recognised his son from the images released by the FBI.
Sources said Robinson's father urged the 22-year-old to turn himself in after he had confessed to his father. The father reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with the information.
The dramatic developments came after US investigators released a video and photos of the suspected gunman who assassinated the MAGA influencer.
Mr Kirk, a 31-year-old author, podcast host and close ally of Mr Trump, was killed by a single gunshot as he gave a talk at a university in Utah in what Trump called a "heinous assassination".
Speaking at Friday’s press conference, Mr Cox said a member of the suspect's family told investigators that Tyler Robinson had become “more political” in recent years.
He said the family member recalled a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner and mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to Utah Valley University, and talked about why he “didn't like him and the viewpoints he had”.
The governor said Robinson had told a family member that “Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate”.
Investigators spoke to Robinson's roommate, who showed them comments Robinson had made on Discord, a chat and streaming platform popular with gamers, discussing retrieving a rifle from a drop point and then leaving the rifle in a bush wrapped in a towel.
This matched the description of the gun that authorities recovered after the shooting in a wooded area near campus.
Earlier, FBI and state officials said the killer arrived on the campus a few minutes before the start of the event, a debate led by Mr Kirk titled "Prove Me Wrong" outdoors in front of 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Security-camera videos show a person going up stairwells to get onto a roof before firing at Mr Kirk, the officials told a press conference. Mr Kirk, a staunch defender of gun rights, was answering an audience question about mass shootings when the bullet struck his neck. Audience members fled in panic.
The FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the killer's arrest and circulated grainy images taken from security cameras showing a "person of interest" wearing a black top, black sunglasses and a dark baseball cap.
The long-sleeved top was emblazoned with an image of a bald eagle flying across a US flag.
A second batch of photos released by Utah state officials on Thursday night showed slightly clearer images of the slender young man, revealing greater details of his backpack and Converse shoes.
Officials also released video of a man climbing down off the roof from where the sniper fired the fatal round. That person left a palm imprint and other DNA materials on the building as he dropped down to the ground, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said.
The video also showed the man crossing a street and moving into a wooded area near campus, which is where authorities said they found a "high-powered, bolt-action" rifle.
The gunman has not been publicly identified, though lawmakers, commentators and online sleuths have already filled social media and message boards with speculation and blame-casting about the killer's ideology.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox appealed to the public for help.
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help right now,” he told reporters.
He said investigators had received over 7,000 tips from the public and investigators had conducted over 200 interviews.
FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Utah and appeared at a press briefing with state and federal officials, but did not speak.
Mr Kirk - co-founder and president of the conservative student group Turning Point USA - was appearing at the Utah university on Wednesday as part of a planned 15-event "American Comeback Tour" of US college campuses.
His killing stirred outrage and denunciations of political violence from Republicans, Democrats and foreign governments.
Trump said he would award Mr Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Vice President JD Vance cancelled his trip to New York to commemorate the attacks by al Qaeda on September 11, 2001, and instead travelled to Utah to see Mr Kirk's family and to fly them and Mr Kirk's casket home to Arizona aboard Air Force Two.
