Would-be Trump assassin’s sniper’s nest revealed: Photos show AK-47 rifle, GoPro and backpack in hidden spot
Authorities have released the first photos from the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his golf course earlier Sunday.
The photos show an AK-47 rifle propped up against a fence alongside a black backpack and a GoPro attached to the wires.
Law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii.
A second image shows the suspect’s arrest on I-95 by local police. It shows his black vehicle blocked in by two police cars, including a police truck.
Trump released an “alert” statement following the incident assuring that he was “safe and well” hours after being rushed to safety when a man with a rifle was spotted near his Florida golf course.
The suspect was spotted by Secret Service agents one hole ahead of Trump, who was playing on the green. The agents opened fire on the gunman, who was not hit.
“There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!” Trump wrote in a statement. “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”
Follow the latest on the foiled assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida
- Trump ‘safe and well’ after being targeted by would-be assassin with AK-47 assault rifle for second time in 2 months
- Shots fired near Trump live updates: Would-be shooter was 300-500 yards away, came with scope and GoPro — ‘Intent on filming’
- Who is alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh?
- Trump assures he’s ‘SAFE AND WELL’ after Secret Service fires at man armed with assault rifle at president’s golf resort
- Trump’s security at golf course was lighter because he’s not sitting prez: official
- Demands mount for Trump to get same protection as Biden — after yet another assassination plot
The former president was nearly assassinated two months ago after gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pa., grazing Trump’s ear and killing a retired fire chief. The shooting followed a slew of errors made by his Secret Service detail, including installing basic safeguards and denying requests for additional security.
Trump called for unity at the Republican National Convention just four days after the assassination attempt.
“The discord and division in our society must be healed. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” he said during his speech at the RNC.
Here's what we know about the assassination attempt on Trump in Florida:
- Former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15, 2024.
- Trump sent out a statement to supporters soon after to report that he was “SAFE AND WELL.”
- The suspect — identified as Ryan Routh, 58, of Hawaii — was able to get within 300 to 500 yards of Trump at a chain link fence on the edge of the course, where he had an AK-47 and a GoPro camera set up, apparently to record the planned shooting.
- Routh has a history of supporting progressive causes online and has made 19 donations to Democratic candidates since 2019.
- A Secret Service agent spotted and opened fire on Routh as he put his gun through the fence. The suspect fled and was arrested on I-95 a short time later.
- According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Trump’s security detail was lighter because he isn’t a sitting president — despite the previous attempt on his life in July.
Routh is a North Carolina native who lives and works in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a shed builder.
He avidly commented on politicians’ and pop culture icons’ X posts, calling on anyone remotely relevant to help with whatever cause he believed in, ranging from stopping the war in Ukraine to saving a staircase in O’ahu, Hawaii.
“I feel lucky to have been born in America, with freedom and opportunity and hope that I do not waste such a valuable thing; to do more and take less,” his X bio reads.
Routh also has his own website for his supposed mayoral candidacy in Honolulu. His forum includes more in-depth versions of posts on his X account, including his advocacy for the separation of church and state and his opinion on global affairs.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
