A 22-year-old from Utah has been arrested over the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead while on stage at a university event earlier this week.
Tyler Robinson was taken into custody late on Thursday after a 33-hour manhunt that ended after his father helped persuade him to surrender to police.
His arrest was first announced by President Donald Trump, who called for the suspect to face the death penalty.
The killing of Kirk, who was shot while debating students on Wednesday, has shocked Americans and laid bare the country's sharp partisan political divisions.
At a news conference on Friday, investigators said the suspect confessed to his father and said he would rather take his own life than surrender. The father then called a youth pastor who is a family friend.
Both men tried to calm the suspect down, police said. The pastor, who also serves as a court security officer, later called the US Marshals who detained the suspect at around 22:00 local time on Thursday.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said surveillance images showed Robinson arriving on the campus of Utah Valley University around four hours before a shot rang out, killing Kirk and sending students running for cover.
The governor told journalists that when he was taken into custody, he was wearing clothing similar to what was seen on CCTV cameras at the scene of the shooting.
Cox said investigators had interviewed a family member who said the suspect had become more political in recent years.
Cox said the family member had spoken of a recent incident when Robinson had mentioned that Kirk was coming to Utah and that he was full of hate and spreading hate.
Investigators had also spoken to a roommate of the suspect who had shown them messages with an account named Tyler on the messaging app Discord.
The messages referred to a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point.
The FBI reported finding the suspected weapon—a Mauser .30-06 bolt action rifle—wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near campus.
The rifle's casings had inscriptions including hey fascist! CATCH! and O Bella ciao, Bella ciao.
The Utah governor stated he was not aware of any potential further arrests in the investigation.
State prosecutors plan to file formal charges against Robinson on Tuesday, accusing him of aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and felony discharge of a firearm.
