The FBI said on Sept. 15 that former President Donald Trump was targeted in a suspected second assassination attempt in as many months after his campaign confirmed that shots were reported near his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida., where the former president was golfing.
“The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the FBI told The Epoch Times in a statement.
A representative from the U.S. Secret Service separately told a news conference on Sept. 15 that a Secret Service agent opened fire on a suspected gunman “located near the property line,” adding it’s under investigation. The Palm Beach sheriff said that officials recovered an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks that had “ceramic tile” inside, and a GoPro camera.
A Secret Service agent who was about a hole ahead of Trump on the golf course “was able to spot this rifle barrel” and “immediately [engaged] that individual, at which time the individual took off,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
Photos shared by law enforcement on Sept. 15 showed what appeared to be two black bags hanging from a fence near the golf course. A firearm was seen between them and pointed through a gap in the fence, while the GoPro was hanging to the side.
The Palm Beach incident occurred roughly two months after an assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, during which the former president was shot and wounded in the ear. In that incident, one rallygoer was killed and two were injured.
The Secret Service has been under fire since then for failing to prevent the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, from opening fire from a rooftop about 400 feet away from the rally.
Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a late Sept. 13 rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser.
The Trump International Golf Club is about 4.5 miles from Mar-a-Lago, where the former president lives.
Bradshaw told the news conference that the suspect was between 300 and 500 yards away from the former president when the Secret Service spotted him. “But with a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance,” he said.
The suspect has “a GoPro on the fence there, where he was intent on filming what was going on,” Bradshaw said. The individual was near the fourth or fifth hole of the course, he said.
Prosecutors are now working to secure a warrant and pretrial detention paperwork, Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg said.
Earlier Sept. 15, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida said it had taken a suspect into custody who is believed to be connected to reports of shots fired in the vicinity of Trump.
Bradshaw said officers were able to locate the suspect through the help of a witness who saw the suspect run out of the bushes and jump into a black Nissan. The witness took a picture of the vehicle, including its license plate.
Bradshaw then stated that they contacted the Martin County Sheriff’s Office to alert them.
The suspect, whose identity and motive have not yet been released, was apprehended on the I-95.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said that the person of interest in the incident “was relatively calm” during the arrest. “He was not displaying a lot of emotions. Never asked, ‘What is this about?’” the sheriff told reporters of the suspect as he was being detained.
The former president’s campaign said in a statement earlier Sept. 15 that Trump is safe, which was later echoed by the U.S. Secret Service. No injuries were reported, law enforcement officials said.
An email sent out by Trump said that he is “safe and well” after the reports of shots being fired.
“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!” he said. “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.”
The White House said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, had both been briefed and would be kept updated on the investigation. The White House said they were “relieved to know Trump is safe.”
In a statement posted to X, Harris also wrote, “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. Violence has no place in America.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, also condemned the incident, saying he was “glad” to hear that Trump is safe.
“Violence has no place in our country,” he wrote in a post on X. “It’s not who we are as a nation.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) late Sept. 15 said he had been briefed on the incident, and expressed gratitude to law enforcement.
“There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind,” Schumer said on X. “The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The suspect is currently in custody of Florida’s Martin County Police Department. Currently, the suspect is only facing state-level charges but Aronberg said that federal charges could also be levied.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sunday evening that the state of Florida would be conducting an investigation into the failed attempt on former Trump’s life.
“The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club,” DeSantis said in a post on X.
“The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee.”
