Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is safe after gunshots were fired in his vicinity while he played golf Sunday near his Florida home. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating a possible assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump after gunshots were fired Sunday near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the GOP presidential nominee was playing golf.
The FBI said in a statement to States Newsroom the incident “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
A male suspect is in custody, law enforcement officials said.
“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time,” Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said in a statement about 20 minutes after the incident occurred just before 2 p.m. Eastern.
The FBI is taking a lead on investigating, said Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of the bureau’s Miami field office during a late afternoon press conference by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent with Trump spotted a rifle coming out of bushes next to the golf course.
“The Secret Service agent that was on the course did a fantastic job,” he said. “What they do is, they have an agent that jumps one hole ahead of time to where the president was at, and he was able to spot this rifle barrel, stickin’ out of the fence, and immediately engage that individual, at which time the individual took off.”
The suspect in the bushes had an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks filled with ceramic tile and a GoPro camera, Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw said a witness saw the suspect come out of the bushes and take off in a black Nissan. The witness took a picture of the license plate and local law enforcement officers were able to stop the vehicle in Martin County, which borders Palm Beach County.
“They spotted the vehicle and pulled it over and detained the guy,” Bradshaw said.
Once the driver was detained, Bradshaw said the witness was able to identify the driver as “the person that he saw running out of the bushes that jumped into the car.”
Bradshaw said the suspect was about 300 to 500 yards away from Trump.
“With a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance,” he said.
Bradshaw did not provide more details about the suspect’s identity.
U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said on social media prior to the press conference that “a protective incident” involving Trump occurred and that the Secret Service was investigating the incident with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. He also confirmed that Trump was safe.
The private golf club is about 4 miles from Trump’s primary residence at Mar-a-Lago.
Reaction from Vance, Harris, Biden
The Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, wrote on social media that he has spoken to Trump, who is “in good spirits.”
“Still much we don’t know, but I’ll be hugging my kids extra tight tonight and saying a prayer of gratitude,” Vance wrote.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said on social media that she had been briefed and she is glad Trump is safe.
“Violence has no place in America,” she said.
The White House said that President Joe Biden had also been briefed.
“They are relieved to know that he is safe,” the White House said of Biden and Harris. “They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a statement that he applauded “the Secret Service for their quick response to ensure former President Trump’s safety.”
“There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind,” he said. “The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The incident follows a July 13 assassination attempt of Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Congress set up a bipartisan task force to investigate that attempted assassination. The chair of the task force, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, Republican of Pennsylvania and the top Democrat, U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado released a joint statement, requesting a briefing from the Secret Service on the shooting in West Palm Beach “and how security responded.”
“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” they wrote. “The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”
U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, an Ohio Republican and a member of the task force investigating that incident, said on social media “with continued threats against Trump, it is critical to remain dedicated to our work on the Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of President Trump.”