Donald Trump is reported to be safe after shooting at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida today. A 58-year-old North Carolina native has been detained along with a weapon, The Associated Press reported citing three law enforcement sources. His motive is not known as the moment.
The incident – which comes about two months after an assassination attempt at the former president in an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania – has once again pointed fingers at the Secret Service, the federal law enforcement agency that is tasked with protecting US political leaders, their families, and visiting heads of state or government.
The suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, was 500 yards of the former president, pointing a AK-47 with a telescopic sight at the Repulican candidate, who was playing golf at the property, it has emerged.
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Golf courses, and in particular Trump's own properties, have long been a source of concern among Secret Service officials due to their design. These golf course – often the largest outdoor area a president can visit – have a common boundary with public roads and contain elements like trees and hills that can conceal would-be assassins, making it difficult to secure a perimeter around the former president.
The suspected would-be shooter had made used of patch of bushes on the perimeter of Trump's golf course before a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of his weapon.
Like other presidents before him, Trump's presence at the golf course does not prompt the club to shut down its access to the general public, nor block the roads to be closed nearby.
Instead, the agents part of Trump's security team typically ride in golf carts ahead and behind the former president as he plays and secure the areas in the several minutes before he arrives.
Trump, like presidents before him, prefers to drive his own golf cart — one of the only opportunities a sitting or former president has to drive any kind of vehicle, CNN reported.
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Sometimes, agents use metal detecting wands to screen players and club members before they are allowed access to the former president.
Trump International Golf Club shares boundary with three heavily trafficked roads, Kirk Road, Summit Boulevard and Congress Avenue. The Palm Beach International Airport is nearby.