An armed man was shot dead by US Secret Service agents and a local sheriff’s deputy after breaching the security perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in the early hours of Sunday, prompting an FBI investigation and renewed scrutiny of the escalating security threats surrounding the president’s Florida properties.
Authorities said the incident unfolded at about 1.30am local time near the resort’s north gate, when agents detected a person inside an inner security perimeter. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy confronted the man, who was carrying a shotgun and a fuel canister, and ordered him to drop both items. Bradshaw said the man put down the fuel can but raised the shotgun “to a shooting position”, and law enforcement opened fire. He was declared dead at the scene, and no officers were injured.
The man has been identified as Austin Tucker Martin, a 21-year-old from North Carolina, according to officials and reporting based on investigators’ identification. Authorities said Martin’s family had reported him missing in the days before the shooting. The Moore County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina said a relative reported him missing early Sunday morning.
The Secret Service said Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time. Although the president frequently spends weekends at the Palm Beach estate, he and First Lady Melania Trump were in Washington when the breach occurred. The incident took place just inside the property’s north gate, where investigators said Martin entered as another vehicle was exiting, according to Bradshaw’s account.
Investigators have not publicly identified a motive. The FBI has taken over the investigation, and officials said evidence is being collected from the scene while authorities work to compile a psychological profile of the suspect. Bradshaw, asked whether the man was previously known to law enforcement, said “not right now.” The FBI also encouraged residents living near Mar-a-Lago to check private security cameras for footage that might assist investigators.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation. The Secret Service has not released further operational details beyond the initial confrontation, but such incidents are typically reviewed internally alongside any federal investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.
As more information emerged about Martin’s background, accounts from relatives and reporting based on messages obtained by entertainment outlet TMZ pointed to an intense interest in documents linked to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. TMZ reported that Martin had grown increasingly focused on “the Epstein files” in the days before the shooting.
According to TMZ, Martin sent a text message to a co-worker on 15 February which said: “I don’t know if you read up on the Epstein Files, but evil is real and unmistakable.” The message continued: “The best people like you and I can do is use what little influence we have. Tell other people about what you hear about the Epstein files and what the government is doing about it. Raise awareness.”
While investigators have not linked those messages to any specific plan, the texts added to a developing picture of a young man whose family and acquaintances appeared shocked by what unfolded in Florida. On Sunday afternoon, Associated Press reporters found vehicles blocking the entrance to a property listed in public records as an address for Martin at the end of a private road in Cameron, North Carolina. There, Martin’s cousin, Braeden Fields, described him as quiet and averse to guns. “He’s a good kid,” Fields, 19, said, adding: “I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing.”
Fields told reporters that Martin worked at a local golf course and would send money from each paycheque to charity. “He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun,” he said. Fields also said Martin did not discuss politics, even though, he said, the family were Trump supporters. “We are big Trump supporters, all of us. Everybody,” Fields said, describing his cousin as “real quiet, never really talked about anything.”
Law enforcement officials said the suspect was armed with both a shotgun and a fuel canister. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told AP that Martin was believed to have purchased the shotgun while driving south, and that a box for the weapon was later found in his vehicle. Authorities have not said where the weapon was bought or how long Martin had been travelling.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement posted on X that the 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.” She did not provide further details on the suspect, and the White House referred questions to the Secret Service and the FBI.
The shooting comes against a broader backdrop of heightened security concerns and politically charged violence in the United States, with authorities repeatedly emphasising the need for robust protective measures around prominent political figures and locations associated with them. Mar-a-Lago, an oceanfront estate that operates as both a private club and a presidential residence during Trump’s visits to Florida, has long been a focal point for protesters and security planning.
In addition to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s West Palm Beach-area golf club has previously been the scene of a serious security incident. US authorities have cited earlier threats during the 2024 campaign, including an attempt in Pennsylvania in which a gunman fired at Trump during a rally, and a separate incident at a Florida golf course where a suspect was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Officials have not suggested any operational connection between those cases and Sunday’s breach at Mar-a-Lago, but the incidents have contributed to an intensified security posture around Trump-related sites.
For now, investigators are focused on reconstructing Martin’s movements, communications and actions in the hours leading up to the shooting, including how he travelled from North Carolina to Palm Beach and how he approached the property’s security perimeter. Authorities have not said whether he made any statements at the scene, nor have they released details about any devices or materials recovered from his vehicle beyond the reported weapon box.