Trump Safe After Assassination Attempt at Golf Course

Former US President Donald Trump is safe after shots were fired at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, in what the FBI says was another assassination attempt.

Officials say Secret Service agents spotted a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes as they were clearing holes on the course ahead of Trump, then fired on a gunman near the property line, only a few hundred yards from where the former president was playing.

Martin County Sheriff, William Snyder, said: “We have stopped the vehicle that the FBI, the Secret Service and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office asked all law enforcement to look for. We have the vehicle description. We have a tag number. We mobilized on the interstate. Two of my mark units picked up the vehicle. We followed it for a bit. We were able to contain it using some of our bigger vehicles that we use for specialized stops. We got the vehicle stopped. Since then, the FBI and the Secret Service have responded to the scene.”

“He is currently in custody by the Martin County Sheriff's office, my agency. But as soon as the FBI secret service is ready, we will hand over his custody, over to them,” Snyder added.

Identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, citing unnamed law enforcement officials. The three accounts bearing Routh's name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. In several of the posts, he appeared to be trying to help recruit soldiers for Ukraine's war effort.

Trump sent an email after the incident to supporters, saying that he was safe.

The former president was injured in July by an earlier assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, raising questions about protection for candidates just months ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The first shooting of a US president or major party presidential candidate in more than four decades was a glaring security lapse that forced Kimberly Cheatle to resign as Secret Service director under bipartisan congressional pressure.