Apparent assassination attempt on Trump is being investigated by the FBI

West Palm Beach, Florida
CNN
—

The FBI is investigating an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his golf club in Florida on Sunday. It is the second apparent assassination attempt on the former president in two months.

Trump is safe and was not injured in the incident, his campaign said. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said during a news conference Sunday that his office was notified of Secret Service gunfire at 1:30 p.m. ET, when agents shot a man who had a rifle in the bushes along Trump International Golf Club.

Trump was playing golf at the time and was walking back and forth between holes five and six, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the golf course fence and “immediately focused” on the person, Bradshaw said. The agent who spotted the rifle was part of a team that stays on the course one or two holes ahead of Trump, Bradshaw said. The person was 300 to 500 yards from Trump, an official said.

The person fled the scene in a car and was spotted by a witness, which ultimately helped police officers locate the vehicle as it headed north on I-95 in Martin County, a county north of Palm Beach.

“We were able to arrest a witness who came up to us and said, 'Hey, I saw the guy run out of the bushes, he jumped into a black Nissan and I took a photo of the vehicle and the license plate,' which was great,” Bradshaw said.

Authorities alerted the Martin County Sheriff's Office, who arrested the person. The witness was subsequently able to identify the man.

David Aronberg, district attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, said the suspect did not say anything during his arrest.

“He knew enough to remain silent,” he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Sunday night. “He obviously didn't speak to the officers, he was quiet. So it looked like a person who had done something like this before, not necessarily this crime, but someone who had had repeated interactions with police.”

According to three law enforcement sources, the person arrested in connection with the alleged attempted murder is Ryan Wesley Routh. The independent affordable housing developer in Hawaii has been vocal about politics and current events on social media, at times criticizing the former president and expressing strong support for Ukraine.

Routh traveled to Ukraine after Russia launched a major invasion of the neighboring country more than two years ago, according to videos and images obtained by CNN from Independence Square in Kyiv.

A video shows Routh attending a rally in support of Ukrainian troops at the square on May 1, 2022, and visiting the same location again about six weeks later. A photo shows him there next to a Ukrainian flag emblazoned with a call for international volunteers to support the war effort.

The FBI's investigation has expanded globally as officials work to uncover his background, a law enforcement source told CNN. Some of Routh's alleged online activity also involved the use of platforms based outside the United States, the source said. This will involve working with international partners to find out everything the FBI can about the arrestee.

Officials said an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging on the fence with ceramic tiles inside and a GoPro camera were found at the scene.

The holes on which Trump was playing when the incident occurred are on the eastern edge of the golf course.

Trump had no public events scheduled for Sunday, and his golf game was added to his schedule at the last minute, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The apparent assassination attempt on Trump's golf course in Florida came two months after an assassination attempt on the former president at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that targeted U.S. intelligence.

“Former President Donald Trump is safe and unharmed following a possible assassination attempt shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on a gunman standing near the property line,” Rafael Barros, the Secret Service special agent in charge of the Miami field office, said in a statement.

Ronald Rowe, deputy director of U.S. Secret Service, is traveling to Florida in response to the incident, a law enforcement source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Sunday that his state would investigate the apparently foiled assassination attempt itself. And the congressional task force investigating the first assassination attempt on the former president is calling for a meeting with the Secret Service following Sunday's incident.

Trump's campaign team had previously stated the same day that the former president was “safe following the shooting near him.”

Trump – who had been golfing with donor Steve Witkoff, according to a source familiar with the matter – soon assured his supporters that he, too, was safe. “Shots were fired near me, but before the rumor mill gets out of control, I want you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND I'M FINE!” Trump wrote in a fundraising email that afternoon.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been briefed on the security incident involving Trump and are both “relieved to know he is safe,” the White House said.

“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or violence of any kind in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that the Secret Service has all the necessary resources, capabilities and protections to ensure the former president's continued safety,” Biden said in a statement Sunday evening.

Harris, in her own statement released by the White House on Sunday evening, reiterated Biden's support for ensuring the Secret Service has “all the resources, capabilities and protections necessary to carry out its important mission.” “I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt on former President Trump today,” she said. “As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We must all do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to further violence.”

Biden and Harris, who are both in Washington, DC, and have no public events on Sunday, are being kept updated by their team. Attorney General Merrick Garland has also been briefed, according to Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson.

Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, wrote on X later Sunday that the former president was “in good spirits.”

“I'm glad President Trump is safe. I spoke to him before the news got out and he was surprisingly in good spirits,” Vance said.

“He is one of the strongest people I have ever known,” wrote South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. “He is in good spirits and more determined than ever to save our country,” the Trump ally wrote.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify that Ric Bradshaw is the sheriff of Palm Beach County and to include additional developments.

CNN's Michelle Shen, Jack Forrest, Holmes Lybrand, Sam Fossum and Isaac Yeee contributed to this report.