Donald Trump target of ‘second assassination attempt’ at his Florida golf club, FBI says | World | News

US Secret Service agents opened fire after seeing a person with a firearm near Donald nTrump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the Republican presidential candidate was golfing Sunday.

Donald Trump‘s campaign confirmed he was safe after the FBI said it is investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination” of the Republican presidential candidate.

The person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended in a nearby county by local law enforcement, the officials said.

CNN’s John Miller said: “Officials believe the shots fired at Trump International Golf Club were intended for former President Donald Trump, according to sources familiar on the matter.

“The Secret Service identified the direction” of the shots “and returned fire at that gunman, who fled. Witnesses were able to provide a description of an individual and a vehicle. We are told that a vehicle that is close to that description has been stopped.”

Journalist Natalie Winters claimed on X that a suspect was found in the bushes and later detained following a chase.

She wrote: “Shots were just fired at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump was there golfing. An AK-47 was discovered in the bushes and the suspect fled over a nearby wall, per a source in Florida law enforcement.”

Fox News’ Sean Hannity revealed what he has been told happened on the golf course while Trump was golfing with American investor Steve Witkoff.

He said: “They heard ‘pop, pop, pop, pop.’ And Steve went into great specificity and great detail as to what happened.

“Within seconds, the Secret Service pounced on the president and covered him. You had snipers with tripods. They knew the direction where the shots had been fired, and they had eyes on the location where the shots had been fired.”

He added that drone footage allowed the Secret Service to track down the suspect.

Roughly two months ago, Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.

Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser.

The campaign did not immediately provide any additional details.

No injuries were reported, according to a spokesperson for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

The White House said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, had both been briefed and would be kept updated on the investigation.

The White House added they were “relieved” to know Trump is safe.

A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation said officials were trying to determine whether the shots were fired near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course or on the grounds.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

In an X post, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, one of Trump’s top congressional allies, said he had spoken with Trump after the incident and that Trump was in “good spirits” and was “one of the strongest people I’ve ever known.

Trump often spends the morning playing golf, before having lunch at the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach, one of three he owns in the state.

Trump has had a stepped-up security footprint since the assassination attempt in July. When he has been at Trump Tower in New York, a lineup of dump trucks have parked in a wall outside the building. And at outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind an enclosure of bulletproof glass.

A message sent to campaign officials seeking information on the security status and location of Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, was not immediately returned.

Max Egusquiza, of Palm Beach, described the emergency response outside Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course.

“From what I saw 5 black unmarked SUVs blocked in a grey Mercedes in front of the golf course. There were about 20 or more cop cars flying from nearby streets,” he said.