Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, US, September 13, 2024.
David Swanson | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump was safe Sunday, his campaign said, after a shooting near his golf course in Florida.
“The FBI responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement to NBC News.
US Secret Service officers fired on a man they believed was aiming a gun outside the fence line of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the Republican presidential candidate was playing golf, four senior law enforcement officials said. law on NBC News.
One person is now in custody, officials said, and an AR-style rifle was recovered.
“I would describe the suspect’s demeanor as having a relatively calm, level-headed feel,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told reporters. “She didn’t show much emotion, she never asked him, ‘What’s that?'”
The suspect was arrested on Interstate-95, a freeway near Trump’s golf club, which was shut down shortly after the shooting.
Snyder said the suspect was not armed when law enforcement stopped his car and removed him from the vehicle, although officials did not search his car. The sheriff added that he expects the Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain a search warrant for the car.
Officials do not yet know where the person was aiming or if the person fired a shot.
The former president was immediately taken to a safe location as a precaution when the shots were fired, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.
“There were shots fired near me, but before the rumors start to get out, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND FINE!” Trump’s presidential campaign wrote in a fundraising email shortly after the incident. “Nothing will slow me down. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!”
The Secret Service said in a statement posted on X that he was “investigating a protective incident” involving Trump.
The preliminary stages of the police investigation have found no initial evidence that Trump was the target of gunfire, and so far no injuries have been reported.
That event will not change Trump’s schedule for next week, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been briefed on the situation and will be updated regularly, the White House said in a statement.
“I have been made aware of reports of shots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida and I am glad he is safe,” Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, wrote. X post. “Violence has no place in America.”
Trump’s allies sent messages of support to the former president in response to the incident.
“I just spoke with President Trump. He is one of the strongest people I have ever met,” wrote Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C. X post. “He is in good spirits and more determined than ever to save our country.”
Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.
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