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An armed man was shot dead after entering the security perimeter of US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the Secret Service reported this Sunday (2/22).
The man was carrying a shotgun and a gallon of gas when he was approached and shot by Secret Service agents and a police officer, authorities said.
The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. Sunday ET (3:30 a.m. EDT). The president was in Washington at the time.
The man shot to death was Austin T. Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, multiple sources told CBS News.
Martin’s family had reported him missing only yesterday, according to CBS.
Authorities are investigating whether he purchased the gun during the car ride from North Carolina to Florida, according to CBS.
Secret Service agents shot him after they saw him “illegally entering the Mar-a-Lago security perimeter early today,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi published on X.
The suspect “was seen at the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a gallon of gas,” the agency said in a statement.
The man was then shot after refusing to obey orders, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
“The only words we said to him were ‘drop the items,’ meaning the gas can and the shotgun,” Bradshaw said at a news conference.
“At that moment, he dropped the gas can and raised the shotgun to shoot,” he said.
At that point, the agents fired their weapons to “neutralize the threat,” he said.
Officers were wearing body cameras and no officers were injured, he added.
Bradshaw said he doesn’t know if the suspect’s gun was loaded and that it will be part of an investigation, which the FBI will assist with.
Security at Mar-a-Lago is extremely strict, with an outer cordon made up of local Palm Beach sheriffs and an inner cordon maintained by the Secret Service. Visitors are searched, and cars and bags are checked by dogs and metal detectors.
Trump was the target of other assassination plots or attempts.
In July 2024, Trump was shot in the ear while standing before a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania. One person was killed and two were injured in the shooting. The shooter, 20-year-old Matthew Crooks, was immediately shot dead by security forces and his motive remains unknown.
Months later, a U.S. Secret Service agent spotted a rifle sticking out of bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The man, later identified as Ryan Routh, fled but was captured. The 59-year-old was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month for attempting to assassinate the president.
