Mar-a-Lago shooting update: The Secret Service and FBI announced on Sunday that an armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s residence and resort in Palm Beach, Florida. While the identity of the suspect was not released, authorities shared key details. The incident took place at 1:30 AM local time on Sunday.
Assassination attempt on Trump?
The president has faced several assassination attempts before. The 79-year-old was wounded after a man shot at him at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. In September that year, a man with a rifle was apprehended after Secret Service agents spotted him waiting near the president’s golf course in West Palm Beach. He was sentenced to life in prison.
In a statement about Sunday’s incident, officials said: “The individual, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was pronounced deceased. The individual was observed by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can.”
It is unclear if the person was targeting Trump, who usually spends weekends at Mar-a-Lago. The president and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, were at the White House on Saturday night.
“US Secret Service agents and a PBSO deputy confronted the individual and shots were fired by law enforcement during the encounter. No U.S. Secret Service or PBSO personnel were injured. There were no Secret Service protectees present at the location at the time of the incident,” the official statement further added.
First details on suspect
The suspect is in his early 20s, from North Carolina. He drove through the north gate of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was exiting, according to Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
The suspect was confronted by agents while armed with a shotgun, the box for which was later recovered in his vehicle.
Investigators believe the man left North Carolina a few days earlier, heading south and picking up the shotgun along the way.
He had been reported missing by his family shortly before the incident.
A motive remains under investigation, and authorities are working to compile a profile of the suspect.
