U.S. Secret Service agents shot at and later arrested a man with an AK-47 rifle near Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf club Sunday afternoon while Trump was on the course.
The FBI said it is investigating the incident as an attempted assassination of the former president, the second in two months.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference that the Secret Service alerted local authorities that shots were fired about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. A Secret Service agent who was monitoring the course a hole ahead of Trump noticed a man with a rifle pointing the barrel through a fence near some bushes. The agent fired on the alleged gunman, who was approximately 300 to 500 yards away from the former president.
A witness told authorities he saw the gunman running from the scene to a car, and was able to get the car’s license plate. Agents were able to track the vehicle and arrested arrest the suspect, Bradshaw said. He remains in custody. No other details were released about the suspect.
Authorities found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera in the bushes where the gunman was hiding.
“The FBI has assumed the role as the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation of the incident that occurred earlier today at Trump International Golf course here in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami field office, said at the news conference. “We’ve deployed a number of resources, including investigative teams, crisis response team members, bomb technicians and evidence response team members as well.”
Trump, the Republican nominee for president, was rushed back to the clubhouse in a golf cart.
Trump told Fox News that he was on the 5th hole when he heard gunshots.
“Tell everybody I am fine and the Secret Service did a great job,” Trump told Fox News.
The West Palm Beach golf club is less than five miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Sunday’s incident occurred two months after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Trump was grazed by a bullet in his ear in the Pennsylvania shooting just two days before the start of the Republican National Convention.
This is a developing story.
