By Sophia Falbo and Chloe Wojtanik
Boston University News Service
Former President Donald Trump is safe after what the FBI is investigating as a second assassination attempt in West Palm Beach, Florida shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday.
“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” said Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that they have arrested a suspect, who was later identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, who was spotted outside of the Trump International Golf Club with an AK-47 assault rifle. U.S. Secret Service officials fired gunshots at Routh who had the rifle pointed into the golf club.
Ric Bradshaw, Palm Beach County Sheriff, told reporters in a briefing that they got a call from the Secret Service at 1:30 p.m. that gunshots were fired. The area was then sealed off and Routh fled the scene in a black Nissan traveling north on I-95 to Martin County, according to a nearby witness.
The witness took a picture of the license plate number, spotted the car driving and detained Routh after he was pulled over. The witness identified Routh as “the man they had seen in the bushes,” according to CBS News.
The Secret Service opening gunfire was prompted by the spotting of Routh, not by Routh directly shooting at Trump. Routh shot after he engaged in back-and-forth gunfire with the Secret Service.
Routh was outside of the golf club in bushes nearby. After he fled the scene, investigators found an AK-47 with scope, two backpacks filled with ceramic plates and a GoPro camera mounted to a fence in the bushes where he was positioned.
“This setup indicates a high level of pre-planning. This someone who went through a lot of effort to plan this all out,” said officials on CNN.
Trump was moving between holes five and six with donor Steve Witkoff at the time of the incident. Law enforcement sources said Routh was two holes ahead of Trump when a member of the Secret Service spotted him.
Shortly after the attempt, Trump wrote in a fundraising email: “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!”
Vice President Kamala Harris, and Trump’s opponent in the upcoming presidential election, wrote on X that “[she has] been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and [she is] glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”
The White House said President Joe Biden was also notified of the incident, and that he and Harris are both “relieved to know that he is safe.”
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared on FOX News Sunday earlier today expressing his concerns about which agency the Secret Service should fall under.
Hours after his interview, Graham wrote on X that he spoke with Trump after the assassination attempt. “He is one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. He’s in good spirits and he is more resolved than ever to save our country.”
This comes two months after Trump survived his first assassination attempt on July 13 at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally. A bullet shot from outside of the rally venue grazed the former President’s ear, but did not cause any major injury.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter in the first assisination attempt, was shot and killed by Secret Service officers seconds after Trump fell to the ground bleeding.
Ten days after the Butler incident, Kimberly Cheatle resigned as the director of the Secret Service.
Routh’s motive for the second assassination attempt has not been revealed at this time, but the FBI is investigating further.
