The U.S. Secret Service and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Sunday they’re investigating reports of gunfire within the vicinity of former President Donald Trump.
On Sunday afternoon, Trump’s Communication Director Steven Cheung released a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter) confirming the former president was “safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” adding there were no further details at the time. Shortly after, Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi released a statement online confirming the reports and noted local officials will have “more details soon.”
“The Secret Service, in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating a protective incident involving former President Donald Trump that occurred shortly before 2 p.m. The former president is safe,” Guglielmi wrote.
The former president was reportedly at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, when the incident occurred, law enforcement sources told the New York Post. The initial report claimed that two people allegedly exchanged gunfire outside of the Trump International Golf Course West Palm Beach, reportedly targeting each other, not the former president, however sources later told the outlet that Secret Service spotted “a suspicious individual” and began firing upon the suspect after seeing what appeared to be the barrel of a firearm.
The New York Post report claims that the suspect was later arrested on I-95.
Palm Beach County officials plan to hold a press conference addressing the incident at 4:30 p.m., an individual within the sheriff’s department confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
CNN’s Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller also stated that during the incident, Secret Service officials had “returned fire” at the gunman who had “fled.”
“Witnesses were able to provide a description of an individual and a vehicle. We are told that if vehicle that is close to that description has been stopped by Palm Beach County police possibly in Martin County, just over the line, and that they are holding that individual for the purposes of identification to see if the witness is can identify that person or there is evidenced in that car that may connect him,” Miller said.
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“In the meantime — in the meantime, in the area of the shooting, sources say they recovered a backpack and a semi-automatic rifle that was described as an AK-47 in the preliminary reporting and a GoPro camera. The last piece is very interesting because it suggests if there was such a camera there, that this individual may have wanted to record himself in a first-person doing this shooting,” Miller continued.
While it is unclear if Trump was in danger from the incident, sources told the New York Post the shooting occurred within an area “known for high crime” and echoed that the former president’s safety was not an issue.
The incident comes just over two months after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate the former pre_sident at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13. The attack ultimately killed former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, injured two other Trump supporters in the crowd and left the former president with a wound to his ear.
Featured Image Credit: Martin County Sheriff’s Office
