Secret Service fatally shoots armed man who breached Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence | Donald Trump

The U.S. Secret Service shot and killed an armed intruder who breached the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida residence and private club in Palm Beach, early Sunday.

Although the US president spends his weekends at an oceanside resort, he was at the White House in Washington at the time of this incident. Like First Lady Melania Trump.

Ric Bradshaw, the sheriff of Palm Beach County, said at a news conference Sunday morning that two Secret Service agents and one of their deputies went to the north gate of the property around 1:30 a.m. after a security detail alerted them that a person was on the inner perimeter.

There, they encountered a white male carrying a shotgun and a gas can, Bradshaw said.

“He was ordered to drop the two pieces of equipment he had with him and at this time he also left the gas canister. [and] The sheriff raised his shotgun into firing position.

“At that time, the deputy sheriff and two Secret Service agents fired their weapons and neutralized the threat. He died at the scene.”

Bradshaw said no law enforcement personnel were injured and could not say whether the man’s rifle was loaded. He distributed photographs of the shotgun and fuel canister to journalists.

He did not immediately identify the intruder, and when a journalist asked if the person was previously known to law enforcement, he replied “not right now.”

But on Sunday afternoon, the Associated Press reported that the man killed by investigators had been identified as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin, citing a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.

The incident occurred just inside the main entrance gate of Mar-a-Lago on Southern Ocean Boulevard, an Atlantic coastal road that remained closed to traffic Sunday morning. A gate at the north end of the expansive property opens onto a driveway that leads directly to the main building’s entrance lobby.

The Trump family’s private quarters are located in a separate building on the other side of the resort, and the president visited Mar-a-Lago most weekends during the winter season. More broadly, it operates as a private members’ club for the wealthy elite of Palm Beach society, and it is also common for Trump to host world leaders and political operatives and events there, and he is a frequent welcome among dinner guests.

Separately, the Secret Service said the suspect was in his early 20s and from North Carolina. He was reported missing by his family a few days ago.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said investigators believe he left North Carolina and headed south, picking up a shotgun along the way.

Guglielmi said the gun box was found in his vehicle. The man passed through Mar-a-Lago’s north gate as another vehicle exited, encountered Secret Service agents and was fatally shot.

Researchers are now working to compile a psychological profile and uncover a cause.

Brett Skiles, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, said at the news conference that the bureau’s evidence response team is investigating the shooting and collecting evidence and “will continue to work the scene as long as it takes.”

Skiles asked residents living near the sprawling resort on the exclusive island of Palm Beach to check exterior cameras from Saturday night or early Sunday for “anything that looks suspicious or out of place.”

Sunday’s episode parallels a 2019 incident in which a Chinese woman carrying multiple cellphones and a computer flash drive carrying malware evaded security and gained access to Mar-a-Lago’s main lobby.

It was one of a series of incidents during Trump’s first term in office that led to accusations that security was poor at the club, which Trump often calls the “winter White House.”

In July 2024, Trump was injured during an assassination attempt while speaking at a rally for his supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the presidential election campaign. A bullet grazed his ear and some bystanders were killed.

Then on September 15 of the same year, a man with a rifle was captured waiting near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach while the President was playing golf. He appeared to be pointing the gun through the surrounding hedges. He was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month.

Last Wednesday, police in Washington arrested a man From Georgia, he raced toward the west side of the U.S. Capitol with a loaded shotgun.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Sunday.