The US Secret Service said the suspect in an apparent assassination attempt did not have a line of sight on former president Donald Trump, and did not fire his weapon.
The FBI said Mr Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life.
US Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday after seeing a person with a firearm near Mr Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club in Florida while he was golfing. No injuries were reported. Officials say the person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local police.
Police officers arrest Ryan Routh, the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was charged on Monday with federal gun crimes. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.
Acting director Ronald Rowe Jr of the US Secret Service says Routh, 58, “did not have a line of sight to the former president” and did not fire at Secret Service agents before he fled the scene.
Authorities are pursuing and executing search warrants for mobile phones, a vehicle and electronics of Routh, an FBI official said.
Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office, said authorities are interviewing witnesses on the scene as well as family members and former colleagues of Routh.
Mr Veltri says Routh has numerous felony charges for stolen goods between 1997 and 2010.
Routh was the subject of a closed investigation in 2019 when someone reported he was in possession of a firearm despite a prior felony conviction, but Mr Veltri said the tipster would not confirm making the report.