An armed man was shot and killed Sunday morning after he entered the secure perimeter of President Trump’s private Florida residence and resort, Mar-a-Lago, and was confronted by U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy.
The man killed was identified by investigators as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, from North Carolina, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. Martin had been reported missing by his family a few days prior.
Trump, who on Saturday night hosted the annual Governors Dinner at the White House, was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time of the incident.
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According to the Secret Service, law enforcement officers spotted a man in his early 20s with a shotgun and a fuel can by the north gate of Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Fla., around 1:30 a.m.
When a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and two Secret Service agents went to investigate, they ordered him to drop the items, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw said during a news conference Sunday morning.
“He put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said. “At that point in time, the deputy and the two Secret Service agents fired their weapons and neutralized the threat.”
The man was declared dead at the scene. Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, said no law enforcement agents were harmed in the incident.
The FBI is leading the investigation.
Brett Skiles, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, said the Evidence Response Team is processing the scene and collecting evidence. He asked residents in the vicinity to check their exterior cameras and contact the FBI or the West Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office if they spotted anything that looks suspicious or out of place.
The officers involved were wearing body cameras, Bradshaw said.
Asked whether the man was known to law enforcement before the incident, Bradshaw said, “Not right now.”
The Secret Service said in a statement that it is working with the FBI and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to learn more about the deceased man’s background, actions and motive. The agents involved in the incident, it said, will be placed on routine administrative leave during the investigation “in accordance with agency policy.”
The incident comes amid a wave of violence against political figures across the ideological spectrum.
