LAST UPDATE
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10 hrs ago
A MAN HAS been shot dead by US Secret Service agents after trying to unlawfully enter US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The man was aged in his early 20s, law enforcement said.
“The individual was observed by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can,” a statement from the Secret Service said.
The incident occurred at around 1:30am local time – 6:30am Irish time.
At a press conference this afternoon, County Sherriff Ric Bradshaw said the man was confronted by Secret Service agents and a deputy.
“The only words that we said to him was ‘drop the items’ which means the gas can and the shotgun,” Palm Beach County sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters.
“At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said.
The deputy and two Secret Service agents then shot him.
The sheriff also displayed a photo to assembled press of the weapon the man had been carrying inside the property.
Palm Beach County Sherriff Ric Bradshaw displaying the photo of the shotgun at the press conference. Palm Beach County Sheriff Facebook
Palm Beach County Sheriff Facebook
US Secret Service agents and a deputy from Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office “confronted the individual and shots were fired by law enforcement during the encounter”, the statement continued.
It said there were no Secret Service protectees present at the estate at the time of the incident. Donald Trump is presently in Washington.
The incident, including the man’s motivation and background, is under investigation by the FBI, the US Secret Service, and the local police force.
Assassination attempt
Earlier this month, Ryan Routh, 59, who plotted to assassinate the president at a Florida golf course in September 2024, two months before the US election, was sentenced to life in prison.
Routh’s planned attack on Trump came two months after an assassination attempt on the Republican leader in Pennsylvania, where 20-year-old Matthew Crooks fired several shots during a rally, one of them grazing Trump’s right ear.
That attack, in which a rallygoer was killed, proved to be a turning point in Trump’s return to power. Crooks was immediately shot and killed by security forces and his motive remains unknown.
