Armed Man Shot Dead After Breaching Mar-a-Lago Security Perimeter

An armed man, 21-year-old Austin T. Martin from North Carolina, was shot dead after breaching the secure perimeter of former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida early Sunday. He was carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, ignored orders to drop the weapons, and was neutralized by Secret Service agents and a sheriff’s deputy. No officers were injured. Martin had been reported missing by his family, and authorities are investigating his movements and whether the gun was purchased along his route. The incident comes amid heightened concerns over political violence in the US, following previous attempts on Trump’s life in 2024.

An armed man was shot and killed after breaching the secure perimeter of former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, according to the United States Secret Service. Authorities confirmed that the individual was carrying both a shotgun and a fuel can at the time of the incident, prompting agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy to open fire to stop the threat.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, around 01:30 Eastern Time (06:30 GMT), at a time when President Trump was in Washington, DC. The suspect has been identified as 21-year-old Austin T. Martin, a resident of Cameron, North Carolina, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
Martin’s family had reported him missing in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement provided to the BBC. The missing persons report has since been handed over to federal authorities for further investigation. The sheriff’s office noted that it had no prior record of Martin and clarified that it was not involved in the ongoing Florida investigation. Officials are also examining whether Martin purchased the firearm along the route he drove from North Carolina to Florida.
According to Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the US Secret Service, agents fired at the suspect after observing him “unlawfully entering the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early this morning.” The agency stated that Martin was seen near the north gate of the property holding what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw provided further details at a news conference, explaining that officers had instructed Martin to drop the items. Bradshaw said: “The only words that we said to him were ‘drop the items,’ which means the gas can and the shotgun. At that point, he put down the gas can but raised the shotgun to a shooting position.” He added that the agents then fired their weapons to “neutralize the threat.”
No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident, and all involved were wearing body cameras, Bradshaw confirmed. He also stated that it remains unknown whether the suspect’s firearm was loaded, and that this will be part of the investigation with the FBI assisting.
US Secret Service Director Sean Curran traveled to Florida on Sunday to oversee “after-actions” and ensure that operational communication and the agency’s response to critical incidents were reinforced. Security at Mar-a-Lago is known to be extremely tight, with a dual perimeter system maintained by both local Palm Beach sheriff’s deputies and the Secret Service. Visitors are screened, and vehicles and bags are checked using metal detectors and sniffer dogs.
This is not the first time Trump has been the target of assassination attempts. In July 2024, he was shot in the ear during a public event in Butler, Pennsylvania. In that incident, one bystander was killed and two others were injured. The 20-year-old shooter, Matthew Crooks, was immediately shot and killed by security forces, and his motive remains unclear.
Months later, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle protruding from the bushes. The suspect, Ryan Routh, initially fled but was later captured and subsequently sentenced to life in prison for attempting to assassinate the president.
Following the latest Mar-a-Lago incident, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized political violence during an appearance on Fox Business, stating that the political left had contributed to “normalizing” such behavior. He referenced the two assassination attempts on Trump in 2024, saying: “Two would-be assassins dead, one in jail for life, and this venom coming from the other side. They are normalizing this violence. It’s got to stop.”
Political violence has increasingly become a major concern in the United States, especially in light of other high-profile incidents last year. These include the arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s mansion, the fatal shootings of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota, and the public shooting involving right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
This most recent attack at Mar-a-Lago underscores the ongoing challenges faced by US security agencies in protecting high-profile political figures amid a climate of heightened political tension.