WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating a possible attack on former President Donald Trump after shots were fired Sunday near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the Republican presidential candidate was playing golf.
The FBI said in a statement to States Newsroom that the incident “appears to be an assassination attempt on former President Trump.”
According to law enforcement officials, a suspicious male was detained.
“President Trump is safe after shots were fired in his vicinity. There are no further details at this time,” Steven Cheung, Trump campaign communications director, said in a statement about 20 minutes after the incident, which occurred just before 2 p.m. ET.
The FBI is investigating, Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the bureau’s Miami field office, said during an afternoon news conference hosted by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent working with Trump spotted a rifle sticking out of bushes near the golf course.
“The Secret Service agent who was on the course did a fantastic job,” he said. “What they do is they have an agent who jumps one hole ahead of time, where the president was, and is able to see the barrel of a gun sticking out of the fence and immediately engage that individual, at which point that individual runs away.”
According to Bradshaw, the suspect in the bushes was carrying an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks filled with ceramic tiles and a GoPro camera.
Bradshaw said a witness saw the suspect emerge from the bushes and drive away in a black Nissan. The witness took a photo of the license plate, and local law enforcement officers were able to pull the vehicle over in Martin County, which borders Palm Beach County.
“They spotted the vehicle, stopped it and detained the man,” Bradshaw said.
After the driver was stopped, Bradshaw testified that a witness was able to identify the driver as “the person he saw running out of the bushes and jumping into the car.”
Bradshaw said the suspect was approximately 300 to 500 yards away from Trump.
“With a rifle and scope, that’s not much distance,” he said.
Bradshaw did not provide further details about the suspect’s identity.
US Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi he said on social media before the news conference that “there was a protective incident” involving Trump and that the Secret Service was investigating the incident with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. He also confirmed that Trump was secure.
The private golf club is located about 4 miles from Trump’s main residence at Mar-a-Lago.
Vance, Harris and Biden React
Republican Party Vice Presidential Candidate, Ohio State Senator JD Vance, he wrote on social media that he spoke with Trump, who is “in good spirits.”
“We still don’t know much, but tonight I will be hugging my kids very tightly and saying a prayer of thanks,” Vance wrote.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic presidential candidate, he said on social media that she has been informed and is glad that Trump is secure.
“There is no place for violence in America,” she said.
The White House said President Joe Biden had also been briefed.
“They are relieved to know he is safe,” the White House said of Biden and Harris. “They will be regularly briefed by their team.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a statement that he commended the “Secret Service for its quick response that kept former President Trump safe.”
“There is no place for political violence of any kind in this country,” he said. “The perpetrator must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The incident occurred on July 13 during a failed assassination attempt on Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Congress has formed a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted bombing. The task force’s chairman, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican, and top Democrat, U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, of Colorado, issued a joint statement asking the Secret Service for information on the West Palm Beach shooting “and the law enforcement response.”
“We are grateful that the former president was not harmed, but we remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all its forms,” they wrote. “The task force will share updates as we learn more.”
U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, an Ohio Republican and member of the task force investigating the incident, said on social media that “in the face of ongoing threats against Trump, it is critical that we remain committed to our work on the Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of President Trump.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
