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The FBI and U.S. Secret Service have released more details after an armed man drove into the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday morning.
The FBI identified the man as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina. He was shot and killed in the incident.
Florida authorities said the man had a gas can and a shotgun. He entered the north gate of the property as another vehicle was exiting and was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him. At which time he put down the gas can [and] raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said at a brief news conference. The two agents and the deputy “fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”
He’s believed to have purchased his shotgun while driving south, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said, and a box for the weapon was later discovered in the man’s vehicle.
Investigators have not identified a motive.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that “the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person, armed with a gun and a gas canister, who intruded President Trump’s home.”
Investigators are working to compile a psychological profile. Asked whether the man was previously known to law enforcement, Bradshaw said “not right now.”
The FBI encouraged residents who live near Mar-a-Lago to check any security cameras they may have for footage that could help investigators.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.
Cousin of suspect stunned
The Moore County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina said a relative of Martin’s reported him missing early Sunday morning.
On Sunday afternoon, vehicles blocked the entrance to a property listed in public records as an address for Martin at the end of a private road in Cameron, N.C.
Braeden Fields, Martin’s cousin, reacted with disbelief. He described Martin as quiet, afraid of guns and from a family of avid Trump supporters.
“He’s a good kid,” Fields, 19, said. He said they grew up together. “I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing.”
He said Martin worked at a local golf course and would send money from each paycheque to charity.
“He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun,” Fields said. He said his cousin didn’t discuss politics.
“We are big Trump supporters, all of us. Everybody,” Fields said, but his cousin was “real quiet, never really talked about anything.”
The incursion at Mar-a-Lago took place a few kilometres from the West Palm Beach club where a gunman was apprehended while Trump played golf in September 2024.
The U.S. Secret Service acknowledged Friday failures that led to a gunman being able to wound former president Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13.
A Secret Service agent spotted that man, Ryan Routh, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery before Trump came into view. Routh was found guilty last year and sentenced this month to life in prison.
Trump also suffered a wound to his ear in an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, which galvanized his supporters on the presidential election campaign. The gunman, identified as Thomas Crooks in that Butler, Pa., incident, fired eight shots, killing a rally attendee, before being fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.
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