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Photos show a rifle and backpack found by law enforcement at the fence of a golf course where former President Donald Trump was on Sunday. Secret Service agents fired at a suspect along the fence in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
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Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump was targeted in what “appears to be an attempted assassination” on Sunday afternoon, the FBI says. A suspect — Ryan Wesley Routh — is in custody after being identified as a man seen with a rifle at Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The incident began around 1:30 p.m. ET on the Trump International golf course where the former president was playing; it ended miles away after Routh’s vehicle was spotted on Interstate 95. It occurred two months after Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa.
Here’s a rundown of the facts that are known so far:
The suspect now faces federal gun charges
Routh appeared in a federal courtroom in West Palm Beach on Monday, where he was charged with two gun-related offenses: possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Routh, who was represented by a federal public defender, told federal judge Ryon McCabe that he has no savings to pay for his defense. Wearing a blue prison jumpsuit and shackles, he also said he has a 25-year-old son.
Agreeing with prosecutors’ request, the judge ordered Routh to remain in custody until a formal arraignment on Sept. 30.
Routh’s cellphone provider offered data suggesting that he had been in the vicinity of the golf course encounter for nearly 12 hours, from 1:59 a.m. to 1:31 p.m., according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on Monday.
After Routh was apprehended, local prosecutors filed warrants and a pretrial detention motion to ensure he would remain in custody ahead of likely federal charges, Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, said on Sunday.
A Secret Service agent spotted a gun
Law enforcement personnel investigate the area around Trump International Golf Club after an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on Sunday.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
As Trump moved through the golf course on Sunday, so did a “bubble” of security that the Secret Service extends around him. An agent who was ahead of Trump on the course “was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engage that individual, at which time the individual took off,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
The weapon was spotted in an area of the golf course where three holes — 5, 6 and 7 — turn a corner close to an intersection where two large roads meet: S. Congress Ave. and Summit Blvd.
From his vantage point, the suspect could view two holes on the course, Bradshaw said.
Agents fired at the suspect
“U.S. Secret Service personnel opened fire on a gunman located near the property line,” Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Miami field office, said at a news conference. The agents fired four to six rounds as they shot at the suspect from a long distance, he added. As of Sunday afternoon, it wasn’t clear whether the suspect had also fired his weapon, Barros said.
The suspect fled in a car and headed toward I-95, less than two miles to the east. He headed north
Barros said that Trump was “safe and unharmed, following a protective incident.”
While Bradshaw predicted Trump’s future golf outings might draw more security, he also commended the Secret Service’s actions, stating, “They provided exactly what the protection should have been and their agent did a fantastic job.”
A rifle was left at the scene
“In the bushes where this guy was, is an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks which were hung on the fence that had ceramic tile in them and a GoPro” camera, Bradshaw said, noting that the suspect was seemingly intent on filming what took place.
The weapon was identified as an SKS-style rifle — its design slightly predates the AK-47 — according to the criminal complaint against Routh. Both guns use the same 7.62 x 39 mm rounds, and the SKS was notably used by Viet Cong snipers in the Vietnam War, according to the Violence Policy Center.
The center adds that an SKS-style gun was used in two high-profile attacks in the past decade: one at a baseball field where members of Congress played in 2017; and another at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2015. The June 2017 attack on a Congressional baseball game practice in Alexandria, Va., left five wounded, including then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and two Capitol Police officers.
At the time of Sunday’s encounter, Trump was one or two holes away — “probably between [300] and 500 yards” from the suspect’s location, Bradshaw said. “But with a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance,” he added.
Photos from the scene depict what looks to be an improvised sniper’s nest, with backpacks hung next to each other on the fence with a space in between them. The placement of ceramic tiles suggests the suspect likely intended them to provide armor against any incoming gunfire.
A witness took a picture of the suspect’s license plate
Ryan Wesley Routh, seen here in a screengrab from a rally held in central Kyiv in April of 2022, was identified as the suspect in what federal officials say was an apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Florida.
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Police converged on the golf course after the Secret Service reported shots fired.
Bradshaw says law enforcement then got a big break: “Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness that came to us and said, ‘Hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tag’ — which was great.”
A license-plate reader system reported that the vehicle was on I-95, driving north toward nearby Martin County. The sheriff’s office in that county then pulled the Nissan SUV over around 2:14 p.m. and arrested Routh after the witness identified him as the suspect from the golf course, according to court records. Routh, 58, allegedly said that he knew why he was being pulled over; he was booked into the county jail.
The license plate on Routh’s Nissan belonged to another vehicle — a white Ford pickup whose tag was reported stolen — according to the criminal complaint.
Routh is a former Trump supporter and a supporter of Ukraine
Routh spent much of his adulthood in North Carolina before moving to Hawaii in 2018. He owns a business that builds portable storage units and tiny homes on Oahu. His digital footprint depicts Routh as a disillusioned former Trump supporter who backs Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Routh has an extended criminal history, including a conviction on a felony charge of possessing a weapon of mass destruction in 2002, reportedly related to a fully automatic machine gun. Public records list him as the defendant in multiple court cases, on matters from bad checks to tax delinquencies. Between 2001 and 2010, he was also charged with numerous misdemeanors.
North Carolina voting records show Routh voted in the recent Democratic primary election there, but he is listed as unaffiliated with any party. He has written on social media — and in a self-published 2023 book — about voting for Trump in 2016 and regretting it.
Federal Election Commission records show Routh donated to the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue nearly 20 times, in amounts ranging from $1 to $25, between September 2019 and March 2020.
Trump, Harris and Biden respond to the apparent assassination scheme
“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 said in a statement sent out by his campaign on Sunday afternoon.
He pledged not to slow down his campaigning, and he later thanked the Secret Service and local law enforcement for their actions.
Trump’s opponent in the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris, condemned political violence, saying on Sunday that she was “deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today.”
“I am thankful that former President Trump is safe,” Harris said. “I commend the U.S. Secret Service and law enforcement partners for their vigilance.”
In an event on Monday, President Biden also condemned political violence and “the attempted assassination against our former president,” saying the ballot box, not a gun, is how America resolves differences.
The president said that Ronald L. Rowe Jr., the acting head of the Secret Service, “is in Florida today, assessing what happened and determining whether any further adjustments need to be made to ensure the safety of our former president.”
Late Sunday night, Trump thanked those who wished him well, saying via Truth Social, “It was certainly an interesting day!”
NPR deputy national editor Russell Lewis contributed to this report.
