Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says a gunman was about 365 to 570 metres away from Donald Trump and hidden in shrubbery while the former president played golf on a nearby hole.
The man, who has now been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, had an AK-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging on a fence and a GoPro camera, the sheriff said.
Bradshaw said the backpacks had ceramic tiles in them and that the suspect’s belongings are being processed.
US Secret Service agents opened fire after seeing the man with a firearm near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club in Florida while the Republican presidential candidate was golfing. No injuries were reported. Officials said Routh fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local law enforcement.
The US Secret Service said it was investigating and that the incident occurred shortly before 2pm local time.
“The former president is safe,” according to the Secret Service.
The FBI said it was investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination”.
A Secret Service agent walking on the golf course a hole ahead of where Trump was playing spotted the rifle sticking out of the fence and immediately opened fire, Bradshaw said.
The agent fired four to six rounds, a Secret Service official said. The suspect then fled.
A witness who took a picture of the suspect’s vehicle and license plate number provided it to law enforcement officers.
Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, indicated the suspect will initially be charged at the state level but could also be charged with federal crimes.
Aronberg said his prosecutors are working up warrant and pretrial detention applications.
“Our filing of the warrant and charges at the state level does not preclude the federal charges that could be coming,” Aronberg said. “But in the meantime, it looks like the warrants and a pretrial detention motion will happen first.”
Bradshaw said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Trump was the sitting president. But because he’s not, “security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible”.
“But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done, they provided exactly what the protection should have been and their agent did a fantastic job,” Bradshaw said.
Former presidents and their spouses have Secret Service protection for life, but the security posture around former presidents varies depending on threat levels and exposure, with the toughest typically being in the immediate aftermath of their leaving office.
Trump’s protective detail has been higher than some of his peers because of his high visibility and his campaign to seek the White House again.
Roughly two months ago, Trump was shot at during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.
In an email to supporters today, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!” the former president said.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio US Senator JD Vance, posted on X that he spoke to the former president before the news became public and said “he was, amazingly, in good spirits”.
Vance said there was still a lot “we don’t know” about the incident.
