WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US authorities said Friday they had captured the man accused of killing prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk after a family member helped to turn him in after a frantic manhunt.

“We got him,” Utah Governor Spencer Cox told a press conference.

Cox identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson and said the arrest was made after one of Robinson’s relatives contacted a friend, who then contacted the police.

The arrest raised a bitterly divided country’s hopes of finding answers to the shocking political murder on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old was killed after being hit by a single bullet in his neck while addressing a large crowd at Utah Valley University.

Kirk was an electrifying presence on the US far-right, with a talent for debate and a huge following that helped Trump build the youth vote in his election victory last November.

From the moment of the shooting, Trump has treated the event as a matter of top national importance.

Trump first announced that Kirk had died from his wound, and on Friday, it was Trump again who took to Fox News — ahead of the press conference by law enforcement — to say that the main suspect was in custody.

The Republican president has ordered flags at half-mast and said he will attend Kirk’s funeral.

Mugshots of Tyler Robinson, suspected to have killed Charlie Kirk. (Photo: Fox News)