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The US Secret Service has shot and killed a man who breached the secure perimeter around President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump and wife Melania were in Washington at the time. None of his other family members were at Mar-a-Lago.
Around 1.30am on Sunday, two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach sheriff’s deputy killed a man in his early twenties who was carrying a shotgun and a petrol canister, according to the agency and the Palm Beach County sheriff.
The agents and deputy went to investigate after someone was detected inside Mar-a-Lago’s north gate. “He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment . . . at which time he put down the gas can, [and] raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” said Palm Beach County sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
The officers told the man to “drop the items”, then fired their weapons and “neutralised the threat. He is deceased at the scene,” Bradshaw added. The officers were not injured.
The FBI identified the deceased man as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, from Moore County, North Carolina.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent blamed “venom from the left” for the incident at Mar-a-Lago, even though authorities have not identified the assailant or his motive.
Bessent told Fox News on Sunday that he had just spoken to Trump. “President Trump and his family, they’re safe, but they shouldn’t have to endure attempt after attempt,” Bessent said.
“This existential threat, this venom from the left, really has to stop.”
The US president faced two attempts on his life during the 2024 presidential campaign. During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania that July, he was wounded in an assassination attempt when a gunman opened fire during his remarks. About two months later, a man with a rifle was apprehended near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach while the president was golfing.
The wave of political violence in the US has affected both the right and the left. Last April, there was an arson attack at the residence of Democratic Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. In June, Democratic Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman was killed at her home.
In September, conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was fatally shot, leaving America’s right bereaved and outraged.
The White House did not provide a comment, referring to the Secret Service and FBI.
The FBI is leading the investigation, which also involves the Secret Service and Palm Beach sheriff’s office. Investigators have not yet released the name of the intruder, pending family notification.
Asked if the man was known to law enforcement, Bradshaw said: “Not right now.”
He added that he did not know whether the shotgun was loaded or how many shots were fired by the Secret Service agents and sheriff’s deputy.
