Shots were fired near Donald Trump while he was playing golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, his campaign and U.S. Secret Service announced on Sunday.
The incident took place at Trump International Golf Course where he was golfing, according to the White House.
The former president and current Republican candidate for the presidency was rushed to safety by the Secret Service around 2 p.m. ET, after agents spotted a man with an AK-47 near his golf course and agents opened fire, law enforcement sources said. The suspect was later taken into custody, and a rifle was recovered, officials said.
“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Sunday afternoon.
In a fundraising email sent out roughly an hour after the incident, Trump said there were gunshots in his vicinity, “but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I am safe and well!”
The FBI said Sunday in a statement it is investigating, “what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” at his Florida golf club, according to various reports.
The U.S. Secret Service earlier had confirmed it was investigating “a protective incident” involving Trump early this afternoon, and said the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office would “have more details soon.”
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said based on information from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, deputies had stopped a vehicle at Interstate 95 and State Road 714 and taken a suspect into custody “believed to be connected to a shooting incident at Trump International in Palm Beach County.”
The gunman was spotted by an advance team several holes ahead of Trump, according to reports.
Asked by reporters how this incident could occur, especially given the previous attempt on Trump’s life, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw described the golf course as being “surrounded by shrubbery” with a limited perimeter.
“When somebody gets into the shrubbery, they’re pretty much out of sight,” he said.
Because Trump is not a sitting president, Bradshaw said, “security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible,” but that will likely change in the future.
“I would imagine the next time he comes at a golf course, there’ll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter, but the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done. They provided exactly what the protection should have been, and their agent did a fantastic job.”
Trump was the target of a shooter earlier in his campaign in Pennsylvania.
The Palm Beach Post and USATODAY.com contributed to this article.
