Armed man shot and killed after entering Mar-a-Lago secure perimeter

An armed man was shot and killed Sunday morning after he entered the secure perimeter of President Trump’s private Florida residence and resort, Mar-a-Lago, and was confronted by U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy.

The man killed was identified by investigators as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin from North Carolina, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. Martin had been reported missing by his family a few days prior.

Trump, who on Saturday night hosted the annual Governors Dinner at the White House, was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time of the incident.

According to the Secret Service, law enforcement officers spotted a man in his early 20s with a shotgun and a fuel can by the north gate of Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Fla., around 1:30 a.m.

When a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and two Secret Service agents went to investigate, they ordered him to drop the items, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw said during a news conference Sunday morning.

“He put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said. “At that point in time, the deputy and the two Secret Service agents fired their weapons and neutralized the threat.”

The man was declared dead at the scene. Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, said no law enforcement agents were harmed in the incident.

The FBI is leading the investigation.

Brett Skiles, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, said the Evidence Response Team is processing the scene and collecting evidence. He asked residents in the vicinity to check their exterior cameras and contact the FBI or the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office if they spot anything that looks suspicious or out of place.

The officers involved were wearing body cameras, Bradshaw said.

Asked whether the man was known to law enforcement before the incident, Bradshaw said, “Not right now.”

The Secret Service said in a statement that it is working with the FBI and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to learn more about the deceased man’s background, actions and motive. The agents involved in the incident, it said, will be placed on routine administrative leave during the investigation “in accordance with agency policy.”

Martin hailed from the small town of Cameron — a staunchly Republican area of central North Carolina.

Around 7 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, a woman who appeared to be the slain man’s mother, Melissa Martin, posted a note on Facebook. “Please share so we can find my boy,” she wrote.

An hour later, she posted a missing person notice that described Martin as around 6 feet tall and driving a 2013 silver Volkswagen Tiguan. He was last heard from, the note said, at 7:51 p.m. Saturday.

Melissa Martin did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Braeden Fields, Martin’s 19-year-old cousin, told the Associated Press that Martin came from a family of Trump supporters. He was quiet, he said, and afraid of guns.

“I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing,” Fields said. “He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun.”

Martin worked at a local golf course, Fields said. He also set up a small business — artwork company Fresh Sky Illustrations, which focused on “bringing to life the hopeful feeling of being on a golf course,” its website said, “by illustrating golf course scenes and providing framed copies of handmade works in various golf course gift shops.”

The incident at Mar-a-Lago comes amid a wave of violence against political figures — one that spans the ideological spectrum.

Trump himself has been the target — most notably in July 2024, when he survived an assassination attempt during an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pa. A few months later, a man with a rifle was arrested by Secret Service agents as he was spotted hiding amid shrubs near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course.

In an interview Sunday with Fox News, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed left-wing rhetoric — “venom coming from the other side” — for inspiring political violence against Trump. He cited a newly released U.S. Senate campaign ad by Illinois Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, in which a series of people say “F— Trump,” and called for the ad to be taken down.

“We don’t know whether this person was a mastermind, unhinged or what,” he told Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures,” referencing the Mar-a-Lago intruder with a gun. “But they are normalizing this violence. It’s got to stop.”

In September of last year, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a campus debate hosted by his Turning Point USA organization at Utah Valley University.

But Democrats have also been attacked and, in some cases, killed. In June 2025, a man posing as a police officer fatally shot Minnesota state House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their residence.

In April 2024, an armed man set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, forcing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to flee during the Jewish holiday of Passover.

On Jan. 6, 2021, a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, some threatening to kill Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in an attempt to stop Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

Trump did not comment publicly on the incident Sunday morning. After 11 a.m. Eastern time, the president posted comments on social media about the U.S. men’s hockey team’s win at the Winter Olympics.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, praised the Secret Service for its speedy work.

“In the middle of the night while most Americans were asleep, the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person, armed with a gun and a gas canister, who intruded President Trump’s home,” Leavitt wrote in a statement on X. “Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a short statement that the agency is dedicating “all necessary resources” to the investigation and will continue working closely with the Secret Service as well as state and federal partners.