Secret Service Kills Armed Man Who Breached Mar-a-Lago Perimeter

TheUnited StatesSecret Service said Sunday that agents shot and killed an armed man after he breached a secure perimeter at PresidentDonald Trump'sMar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. "An armed man was shot & killed by US Secret Service agents & @PBCountySheriff after unlawfully entering the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early this morning," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote on social media. Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at the White House in Washington, DC, during the incident. The security detail at the estate noticed the intrusion at 1:30 a.m. (0530 GMT/UTC) on Sunday, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County said. A sheriff's deputy and two Secret Service agents confronted "a white male that was carrying a gas can and a shotgun," Bradshaw said. "He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him at which time he put down th gas can, raised the shot gun to a shooting position. At that point in time the deputy and the two secret service agents fired their weapons and neutralised the threat," he said. Investigators said the man, in his early 20s from North Carolina, had been reported missing by his family days earlier and is believed to have traveled south, picking up a shotgun along the way. The gun's box was found in his vehicle, Guglielmi from the Secret Service said. He added that the man drove through the north gate of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was exiting. The FBI is the lead agency investigating the incident, working alongside the Secret Service and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office. The United States has been rocked by a series of political violence incidents in the last couple of years. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in September last year as he spoke with students during an event at Utah Valley University. A suspect was arrested and isfacing charges including aggravated murder. In June last year, amasked shooter killed Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband at their home. Another elected Democratic official and his wife were also targeted and seriously injured. In April, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, touted last year as a potential Democratic presidential hopeful, had his home set alight in what authorities described as an alleged assassination attempt. Trump survived an assassination attemptat a July 2024 campaign rally in Pennsylvania, suffering only a minor ear injury. Later that year, a man armed with a rifle was arrested near Trump's West Palm Beach golf course and wassentenced to life in prisonearlier this month. Edited by: Sean Sinico