A suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah university has been taken into custody, US President Donald Trump says, ending an intense manhunt that followed what Trump described as a "heinous assassination".

Kirk's killer has eluded police and federal agents for more than 24 hours after Wednesday's shooting, in which a sniper fired a single gunshot that killed Kirk during an appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem.

"With a high degree of certainty, we have him," Trump told Fox News in an interview on Friday, adding that a person who knew the suspect had turned him in.

Previously, US investigators said they had found the bolt-action rifle believed to have been used to kill Kirk and released images of a person of interest.

The FBI had circulated gr

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