President Trump announced on Friday that authorities would detain Charlie Kirk for alleged assassination.
“He is in custody,” Mr. Trump said, adding that someone “very close” to the suspect sent him in.
The president said the suspect’s father drove him to the police station and participated in the minister.
“We have a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Mr. Trump said on Fox and Friends. “Everyone did a great job and worked with local police.”
“To change, but the facts are facts. We have people we think are the people we are looking for,” Trump said.
The release of the FBI’s photos of the suspect on Thursday appeared to pay off.
See also: Patel heads to Utah; Manhunt for Kirk’s Assassin boosts with $100,000 reward offer
“A man who was very close to him said, ‘It was him’, went to the father, went to the law enforcement department,” Mr. Trump said. “The man was involved in law enforcement, but a man of faith, a minister. He brought him to the U.S. Marshal and the father convinced his son, ‘That’s it.”
The president said he had just heard of custody, saying law enforcement told him “looks good.”
Mr. Trump praised the work of law enforcement, saying they started with little evidence, with only a small video clip and worked hard to capture suspicious assassins.
Mr. Kirk, 31, a co-founder of Conservative youth group Turning Point, was shot dead while speaking at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. This is his first stop in his American comeback journey.
The president’s announcement came as Mr Kirk’s killer chase extended to the third day, while officials released a new video of interested people.
In the latest video of the suspect aired at a press conference Thursday night, the apparent gunman can be seen climbing down from the roof of a building on the Utah Valley University campus, where authorities believe he fired and then fled the scene.
See also: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk mourns ‘martyrs of truth’ after murder
The FBI has provided up to $100,000 in rewards to obtain information on the person responsible for Mr. Kirk’s murder.
Also on Thursday, authorities released photos of people interested in the shooting. The photos show a man with a black backpack and wearing a T-shirt with an American flag print. Officials described the suspect as a college student.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said in a press conference that authorities have received more than 7,000 tips and clues and conducted 200 interviews.
The FBI also said it had retried the weapons it believed were used in the shooting, saying “high-power bolt shootings” were recovered in the woods near the site where the shooting occurred.
