Former President Donald Trump was unharmed on Sunday and a suspect was in custody, after shots were fired in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation said “appears to be an attempted assassination” at his Florida golf course.
U.S. Secret Service officers “opened fire on a gunman located near the property line” of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, shortly before 2:00 p.m. ET, Special Agent Rafael Barros said at a press conference Sunday.
Trump was playing the course at the time and within 300 and 500 yards of the gunman, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at the same press conference.
The person in custody who the Secret Service shot at is Ryan Wesley Routh, three senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Officials have not yet confirmed where he was aiming, nor whether he fired any shots.
The former president was immediately taken to a safe location when the shots were heard, and his motorcade arrived back at his Palm Beach resort home, Mar-a-Lago, shortly afterwards.
“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!” Trump’s presidential campaign wrote in a fundraising email shortly after the incident. “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”
After shots were fired, Bradshaw said a witness on the scene told officials that they had spotted a “guy running out of the bushes.”
The witness said they saw the person flee and jump into a black Nissan vehicle, Bradshaw added.
Law enforcement officials later found an AK-47-style rifle with a scope in the bushes, along with two backpacks with ceramic tile inside and a GoPro camera fastened to the fence, Bradshaw said.
The witness took a picture of the vehicle’s license plate, which Bradshaw’s office used to track the car as it headed north on Interstate-95.
Northbound lanes of the major traffic artery up the East Coast were locked down after the shots were fired.
Bradshaw’s office alerted the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, which then pulled over the vehicle and detained Routh.
“The suspect’s demeanor I would describe as having a relatively calm, flat affect,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told reporters. “He was not displaying a lot of emotions, never asked, ‘What is this about?'”
Snyder said Routh was not armed when law enforcement officials stopped his car and took him out of the vehicle, though officials did not do a search of his car. Snyder added that he expects the FBI will obtain a search warrant for the car.
The FBI is now leading the investigation and has dedicated its “full resources” to the probe into the apparent assassination attempt, Jeffrey Veltri, the Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office, said at the press briefing.
It appeared to be the second assassination attempt on the Republican presidential nominee in just over two months. On July 13, Trump sustained a minor ear injury after a bullet grazed his ear during an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania rally.
This event will not change Trump’s schedule planned for next week, a source familiar told NBC News.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the situation and would be receiving regular updates, the White House said in a statement.
“I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe,” Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, wrote in an X post. “Violence has no place in America.”
Trump allies sent messages of support to the former president in response to the incident.
“Just spoke with President Trump. He is one of the strongest people I’ve ever known,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote in an X post shortly after reports of the incident. “He’s in good spirits and he is more resolved than ever to save our country.”
“I’m glad President Trump is safe. I spoke to him before the news was public and he was, amazingly, in good spirits,” Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, echoed on X. “Still much we don’t know, but for I’ll be hugging my kids extra tight tonight and saying a prayer of gratitude.”
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