Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk, was arrested late Thursday night, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed at a news conference on Friday. Robinson was arrested in St George, Utah, which is about 250 miles from Utah Valley University, the site of Wednesday's assassination.
Cox's announcement came hours after President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that a suspect was placed in custody.
The family of Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man, told officials that Robinson has become more political in recent years, Cox said. Cox said that Robinson opposed Kirk's political views.
"The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to Sept. 10 and in the conversation with another family member, mentioned that Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU," Cox said. "They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had."
Cox said that ammunition found at the crime scene included messages engraved that said, "Hey Fascist! Catch!" and "If you read this, you are Gay, LMAO."
Cox said that messages Robinson sent on the Discord app, which discussed the need to “retrieve a rifle from a drop point.”
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Officials said that Robinson's family turned him in to law enforcement.
Cox said that he expects charges to be filed against Robinson by early next week. Cox said he does not anticipate anyone else will be charged, and that Robinson acted alone.
President Trump says he hopes the shooter gets the death penalty. He indicated in the interview that there was help from a minister who works with law enforcement, who knows a U.S. Marshall, and “they took it from there.”
"Somebody very close to him said, 'That's him,'" President Trump said. "And essentially went to the father, who went to a U.S. Marshal, who is fantastic and the person was involved with law enforcement, but was a person of faith, a minister. And brought him to a U.S. Marshal, who is fantastic, and the father convinced the son that this is it."
On Thursday, officials released photos of a "person of interest," depicting a young adult male wearing a hat, sunglasses and T-shirt.
As of Thursday evening, the FBI had received over 7,000 tips related to the case. Officials said the volume of tips outnumbered those involving the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
Kirk, a conservative activist closely aligned with President Trump, was killed on Wednesday during a speaking event at Utah Valley University.
