The FBI Authorities are investigating what they believe is another assassination attempt on former President Trump, and a “potential suspect” is in custody.
A shooting occurred near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump’s campaign communications director, Stephen Cheng, said in a statement Sunday afternoon that Trump was “safe after shots were fired in his vicinity” at about 1:30 p.m., where the president was playing golf.
Secret Service agents walking along the golf course ahead of Trump saw a rifle protruding from a fence and opened fire, Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw told reporters Sunday afternoon. The suspect, who Bradshaw said was about 300 to 500 yards from Trump, fled on foot and then got into a car, Bradshaw said. It was unclear as of Sunday afternoon whether the suspect had fired at the Secret Service. A witness provided a photo and details of the vehicle’s license plate number, which allowed the Martin County Sheriff’s Office to identify the vehicle and take the suspect into custody shortly afterward on I-95, authorities said.
Law enforcement found an AK-47 assault rifle with a scope, a device used to improve aiming, two backpacks, and a GoPro camera in the bushes where the victim ran. Bradshaw said the shooter was “not too far” from the former president “with the rifle and the scope like that.”
Bradshaw said a man is in custody. The FBI is leading the federal investigation, according to Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri of the Miami Field Office, who added that the public should avoid the area around the golf course and contact authorities if they have any information about the shooting.
The news comes just two months after a shooting at a Pennsylvania rally that killed one spectator and wounded Trump and two others. The shooting remains the subject of a federal investigation, and the Secret Service has been criticized for its massive security failures that allowed it to happen. But on Sunday, officials praised their response. “The Secret Service did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Bradshaw said. “They provided exactly the protection they were supposed to provide, and their agents did a fantastic job.”
After the shooting, Trump seemed to be in good spirits. “Nothing will slow me down,” he wrote in a fundraising email hours later. “I will never surrender!”
In a post to X, Vice President Kamala Harris said she had been briefed on the incident, adding, “I’m glad he’s safe. Violence has no place in America.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
