Charlie Kirk Shooting Person of Interest in Custody, Donald Trump Says

President Trump just dropped a bombshell … the person of interest in the Charlie Kirk assassination is now in custody!

Trump made the stunning revelation on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning … saying he believes “with a high degree of certainty” that the possible shooter has been apprehended. And get this … Trump says he only learned the news about 5 minutes before making his TV appearance.

47 went on to say the man was turned in with the help of a minister and a member of the U.S. Marshals.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … the minister is actually the man’s father who works part-time as a clergyman and part time as a contractor for a federal law enforcement agency unrelated to the Marshals Service..

Our sources say the father recognized his son from the person of interest photos released by FBI, thinking that he “looks a lot like my kid.” The dad called the Marshals Service and the FBI, telling investigators that “I think this is my kid.”

The FBI and the Marshals Service investigated — and eventually brought the man into custody.

Trump praised everyone involved in the manhunt … saying they did a great job while underscoring how difficult it was to track the man down, starting the hunt with “absolutely nothing.”

As we reported, TMZ obtained video of the person of interest walking down a residential street Wednesday in Orem, Utah Wednesday — not long before Charlie was shot while holding an event at UVU.

About 6 minutes after the shooting, someone dressed in black can be seen running the opposite direction through a backyard.