Secret Service Foils Second Attempt on Trump’s Life in Two Months
Another apparent assassination attempt of former President Doanld Trump was averted Sunday afternoon, according to the officials. The secret service agents engaged with a suspect having a high-powered rifle at a Florida golf course where Trump was golfing. Trump is safe and was not harmed in the incident, his campaign said. The suspect had fled the scene in a vehicle but later was taken into custody at a traffic stop.
Second Attempt
This marks the second apparent attempt on Mr. Trump’s life in just over two months, following an earlier incident in which he was wounded. Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 was killed by the Secret Service.
Palm Beach County Sheriff, Ric Bradshaw said at a briefing, the gunman had an AK-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging on a fence and a GoPro camera. Ceramic tile was also found in the backpack.
The suspect, later identified as 58-year-old Ryan Routh, was hiding in a shrubbery about 300 to 500 yards away from the Republican presidential candidate. A background check on the suspect revealed that he currently lives in Hawaii and has faced dozens of run-ins with police, stretching back to at least the 1990s. He had expressed the desire to fight and die in Ukraine.
A Secret Service agent walking on the golf course a hole ahead of where Trump was playing spotted the rifle sticking out of the fence and immediately opened fire, Bradshaw said.
