Former President Donald Trump is safe after what the FBI described as an apparent “attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, with police later apprehending a suspect who was identified by multiple news outlets as Ryan Wesley Routh.
Former President Donald Trump is safe after gunshots were reported near him, his campaign said.
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Key Takeaways
- Authorities have not officially released the suspect’s name, but the Associated Press, CNN and CBS News identified Routh, citing multiple unnamed law enforcement sources.
- Routh’s social media indicates he’s outspoken about the war in Ukraine and suggests Routh tried to recruit soldiers and traveled to the country, potentially as a fighter, CNN’s John Miller reported—adding authorities are still looking at the shooter’s motive.
- A 58-year-old who resided in Hawaii and worked construction in North Carolina, Routh has eight arrests on his record, largely for minor issues, according to Miller.
- The incident began when a Secret Service agent saw a gun poking out of a fence at Trump’s club Sunday afternoon and fired at the gunman, who was hiding in shrubbery ahead of where the former president was golfing, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a press conference Sunday.
- Rafael Barros, a special agent in Miami’s Secret Service field office, said the agency wasn’t sure whether the suspect also fired at agents.
- Bradshaw said the man fled from the bushes after the Secret Service shot at him and they found an AK-47-style gun with a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera the man was going to use to film.
- The shooter was about 300 to 500 yards away from Trump, Bradshaw said, but he added that is not a long distance because of the scope.
- Bradshaw says officers detained a suspect in Martin County, north of Palm Beach, with the help of information provided by a witness who said they saw the suspect flee the bushes and jump into the car, gave law enforcement officials information on the car he left in and later identified the man.
- Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, and the Secret Service confirmed Trump was safe after the shots were fired.
- Trump was on the golf course with a few of his staff and Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and friend of Trump, when the incident occurred, the New York Times reported.
What to watch for
The White House said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the security incident and are “relieved” to know Trump is safe, and Harris put out her own statement saying she is “glad he is safe,” adding: “Violence has no place in America.”
Key Background
Trump has traveled with an enhanced security team since the assassination attempt against him in July.
At a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, a lone gunman fired at the former president from the roof of a nearby building. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear and he was not seriously hurt—though one rally attendee was killed and two others were injured.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service agents. After the shooting, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down amid calls from lawmakers for her to resign. Cheatle herself said the shooting was the agency’s “most significant operational failure” in decades.
There are a number of investigations ongoing into a series of security lapses during and leading up to the shooting, and multiple agents were reportedly put on leave as a result of the investigation in late August.
This is a developing story. More to come.
