Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump gestures during a press conference at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, USA, September 13, 2024.
David Swanson | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump was shot and killed at a Florida golf course on Sunday in what Federal Investigations said was “an assassination attempt,” but he was unharmed and a suspect was in custody.
U.S. Secret Service officers “opened fire on a gunman near the property line” of President Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, shortly before 2 p.m. ET, Special Agent in Charge Rafael Barros said at a press conference on Sunday.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said at the same news conference that Trump was playing on the course at the time and was within 300 to 500 yards of the shooter.
The person in custody who was shot by the Secret Service Ryan Wesley RouthThree senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Police officers respond to reports of shots fired outside Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump’s Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, September 15, 2024.
Marco Bello | Reuters
Authorities have yet to confirm where he was aiming or if he fired any shots.
The former president quickly fled to safety after hearing gunfire, and his motorcade returned to his home at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach a short time later.
“Gunshots were heard near me, but before the rumors get out of control, hear this first: I am safe and well!,” Trump’s campaign wrote in a fundraising email shortly after the incident. “Nothing will stop me. I will never surrender!”
After the shooting, witnesses at the scene told authorities they saw “a man running out of the bushes,” Bradshaw said.
Witnesses said they saw the person run away and jump into a black Nissan, Bradshaw added.
Bradshaw said authorities later found an AK-47-style rifle with a scope in the brush, two backpacks with ceramic tiles inside and a GoPro camera secured to a fence.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw holds up photos of a rifle and other items found near where the suspect was found during a press conference on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2024.
Joe Raedl | Getty Images
A witness took a photo of the car’s license plate, which Bradshaw’s office used to track the vehicle as it headed north on Interstate 95.
Northbound lanes of a major East Coast transportation artery were closed after the shooting.
Bradshaw’s office notified the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, who stopped the vehicle and took Routh into custody.
“The suspect’s demeanor was relatively calm and emotionless,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told reporters. “He didn’t show much emotion and he didn’t ask, ‘What is this all about?'”
Snyder said Routh was unarmed when officers stopped him and removed him from his car, but officers did not search the vehicle. He added that he expects the FBI will obtain a search warrant for the car.
Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Office, Jeffrey Veltri, said at a press conference that the FBI is currently leading the investigation and is devoting “all resources” to investigating the assassination attempt.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Teri Barbour holds up photos of a rifle and other items found near where the suspect was found during a press conference on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2024.
Joe Raedl | Getty Images
It is believed to be the second assassination attempt on a Republican presidential candidate in just over two months. The first took place on July 13 at a rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump was grazed by a bullet and suffered a minor ear injury.
A source familiar with the matter told NBC News that the event will not alter Trump’s schedule next week.
The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been briefed on the situation and will receive regular updates.
“We have received reports of a shooting near former President Trump and his property in Florida and are glad he is safe,” Democratic presidential candidate Harris said in a statement. X Post“Violence has no place in America.”
Supporters of President Trump sent messages of support to the former president following the incident.
“I’m glad President Trump is safe. I spoke with him before the news was released and he was in surprisingly good spirits,” the Ohio senator said. J.D. VanceJohn F. Kennedy, Trump’s running mate, made a similar statement at X: “There is still much we don’t know, but tonight I will hold my children even tighter than usual and say a prayer of thanks.”
A select congressional committee set up to investigate the July assassination attempt on President Trump said Sunday it had requested a report from the Secret Service about the agency’s response to the incident.
“While we are grateful that the former president was not harmed, we remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in any form,” the task force’s chairman, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania), and lead director, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), said in a joint statement.
