Kirk suspect awaits charges

The Utah trade school student jailed on suspicion of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk faces formal charges this week, according to the governor, from an act of violence widely seen as a foreboding inflection point in US politics.

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Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on Thursday night after relatives and a family friend alerted authorities that he had implicated himself in the crime, Governor Spencer Cox said on Friday, opening a press conference with the words, “We got him.”

The arrest capped a 33-hour manhunt for the lone suspect in Wednesday's killing, which President Donald Trump has called a “heinous assassination.”

Kirk, co-founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA and a staunch Trump ally, was gunned down by a single rifle shot fired from a rooftop during an outdoor event attended by 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles south (65km) of Salt Lake City.

The sniper made his getaway in the ensuing pandemonium, captured in graphic detail in video clips that circulated widely on the internet and television news reports.

A bolt-action rifle believed to be the murder weapon was found nearby, and police released images from surveillance cameras showing a “person of interest” wearing dark clothing and sunglasses.