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(NewsNation) — A man who allegedly pointed an AK-47-style rifle through the fence at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach Sunday where the former president was golfing nearby has been taken into custody, authorities say.
The man, identified to NewsNation by a law enforcement source as Ryan Wesley Routh, is described as a white male in his mid-60s. He is believed to be the suspect who was crouched in bushes near the golf club perimeter, armed with an AK-47-style weapon equipped with a scope. Two backpacks and a Go-Pro camera were also found with the firearm near the perimeter from where the suspect had fled.
Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, according to online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records. The records do not provide details about the case.
At approximately 1:30 p.m. local time, authorities received a call reporting shots fired at the golf course where Trump was playing a round of golf.
A witness told police the suspect fled the scene in a black Nissan and provided investigators with photos of the suspect’s license plate. Using that photo, authorities say they put out a “a very urgent BOLO (Be On the Lookout) for the suspect’s vehicle and plates.
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The suspect dropped his weapon and fled in an SUV. Authorities found an AK-47 with a scope and a GoPro camera in the bushes where he was. They also located two backpacks full of ceramic tile hung on the fence. -
Northbound I-95 at 714 is shut down. Based on BOLO information released by Palm Beach County, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office has stopped a vehicle and taken a suspect into custody believed to be connected to a shooting incident at Trump International in Palm Beach County. -
Northbound I-95 at 714 is shut down. Based on BOLO information released by Palm Beach County, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office has stopped a vehicle and taken a suspect into custody believed to be connected to a shooting incident at Trump International in Palm Beach County. -
The suspect dropped his weapon and fled in an SUV. Authorities found an AK-47 with a scope and a GoPro camera in the bushes where he was. They also located two backpacks full of ceramic tile hung on the fence. -
Sheriff vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Stephanie Matat) -
FILE – Security agents talk at the entrance to former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, March 31, 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder said his deputies “immediately flooded” northbound I-95, deploying to every exit between the Palm Beach County line to the south and St. Lucie County line to the north.
“One of my road patrol units saw the vehicle, matched the tag and we set up on the vehicle,” Snyder said, “We pinched in on the car, got it safely stopped and got the driver in custody.”
Snyder told WPTV that the suspect “was not armed when we took him out of the car.”
The man had a calm, flat demeanor and showed little emotion when he was stopped by police, Snyder said, saying the suspect did not question why he was being pulled over.
“He never asked, ‘What is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” Snyder said.
The post by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office indicated the suspect was apprehended near Palm City, Florida, about a 45-mile drive north of Trump’s golf course. Northbound lanes of I-95 were shut down, the sheriff’s office said.
The former president said that he is safe and well.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
