A white man in his early 20s was shot and killed by US Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy after entering a restricted security zone at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida early Sunday, authorities said.
Officials said the armed man, who drove into the secure perimeter as another vehicle was exiting the property, was from North Carolina and had been reported missing by his family days earlier, according to Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The US President was in Washington at the time.
The agency said the man approached the north gate of the West Palm Beach estate carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can before moving into the protected perimeter around the resort.
“The individual was observed by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can,” the Secret Service said in a statement.
Agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy confronted him inside the restricted zone and opened fire during the encounter. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect was later identified as Austin Tucker Martin of Cameron, North Carolina, according to CBS News.
No Secret Service or sheriff’s personnel were injured. The FBI, the Secret Service and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office are jointly investigating the shooting, including the man’s background, actions and possible motive.
SUSPECT RAISED SHOTGUN BEFORE SHOOTING
In a press briefing, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the man entered the inner security perimeter of Mar-a-Lago at about 01:30 local time.
Deputies and federal agents found him carrying a shotgun and a petrol canister, Bradshaw said. Officers ordered him to drop the items. He released the container but then raised the firearm into a firing position.
“At that point, agents fired their weapons to neutralise the threat,” Bradshaw told a news briefing.
US Secret Service Special Agent Rafael Barros said two federal agents were directly involved in the shooting. Preliminary information confirmed the suspect was carrying a petrol container, he said.
FBI spokesman Brett Skiles said the investigators are collecting physical and forensic evidence.
He urged residents near the resort to review exterior security camera footage from around the time of the incident and report any unusual activity to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident at Trump’s Florida residence occurred only a few miles from his West Palm Beach golf course, where a man attempted to assassinate him during a round of golf in the 2024 election campaign.
Mar-a-Lago is Donald Trump’s private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, built in the 1920s as a lavish oceanfront estate. Trump bought the 126-room property in 1985 and later converted much of it into a members-only resort while retaining private living quarters.
Often dubbed the “Winter White House,” it serves as a regular presidential retreat, hosting political meetings, fundraisers and diplomatic guests.
With inputs from agencies
