Trump Supporter in His 20s Shot Dead After Attempting to Enter Mar-a-Lago with Gun

Motive for Intrusion Attempt Under Investigation
Trump Was at the White House

Yonhap News Agency

The U.S. Secret Service (SS) said on the 22nd (local time) that an armed man in his 20s was shot and killed after breaking into a restricted access zone at Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach, Florida resort where U.S. President Donald Trump’s residence is located.

According to foreign media, the man who was killed was identified as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin from the eastern U.S. state of North Carolina. The incident occurred at around 1:30 a.m. local time on the 22nd. Martin’s motive for attempting to enter Mar-a-Lago has not yet been determined.

Martin, who was carrying a shotgun and an object that appeared to be a gas can, drove into the restricted access zone near the north gate of Mar-a-Lago by slipping in as another vehicle was exiting, and then confronted two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County deputy sheriff, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

At a press conference, Sheriff Bradshaw said, “He (Martin) was ordered to put down the two items (the shotgun and the gas can), and at that point he put down the gas can and raised the shotgun into a firing position,” adding that the Secret Service agents and others “discharged their firearms (at Martin) to neutralize that threat.”

FBI Director Cathy Patel said on X (formerly Twitter), “The FBI is deploying all necessary resources to investigate the incident that occurred this morning at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago,” and described it as an incident “in which an armed individual unlawfully entered a secure area and was shot and killed.”

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that “by acting swiftly and decisively, the Secret Service neutralized a deranged individual who stormed the president’s home (the Mar-a-Lago secure area) armed with a gun and a gas can.”

She went on to blame the ongoing partial shutdown of some operations at the Department of Homeland Security amid a dispute over immigration enforcement methods on the opposition Democratic Party, calling it “shameful and reckless,” and sought to link this incident to the Homeland Security shutdown issue.

President Trump often spends weekends at Mar-a-Lago, but at the time of the incident he was understood to be staying at the White House in Washington, D.C., with First Lady Melania.

Meanwhile, Braden Fields, 19, a relative of Martin, told the Associated Press (AP) that Martin was quiet and afraid of guns, and said Martin’s family members were “staunch Trump supporters.”

Martin suddenly left for Mar-a-Lago a few days ago. The family reported him missing after he disappeared, AP reported. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said it was determined that Martin bought the shotgun while traveling south from North Carolina to Florida.