WASHINGTON, September 16. /TASS/. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is conducting an investigation into the shooting in the vicinity of Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, viewing it as an assassination attempt.
According to the FBI, its agents have arrived in West Palm Beach, Florida, and are "investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination" of Trump.
The US Secret Service confirmed that its agent had opened fire on an armed suspect near the former US president’s golf course
Earlier, the New York Post reported, citing sources, that the Secret Service had spotted a suspicious individual in the vicinity of Trump’s golf course "and opened fire when agents saw what appeared to be the barrel of a gun." Later, the suspect was apprehended by the local police.
Previously, an assassination attempt on Trump took place on July 13 at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet grazed the ex-president’s ear. As a result of the shooting, one of his supporters was killed. The attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service officers.
The US presidential election is slated for November 5. Incumbent US President Joe Biden was supposed to represent the Democrats at the election but he decided to drop out of the race after his poor performance in June in the debate with his predecessor Trump who later became the Republican presidential nominee. In July, Biden announced a decision to end his re-election bid and endorse Harris to replace him. The Democratic Party officially nominated Harris in early August.