NEW YORK, September 16. /TASS/. Ryan Wesley Routh has been identified as a suspect in the second assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, law enforcement sources confirmed to Fox News.
According to the news outlet, he was able to push the muzzle of his gun through the chainlink fence outside the golf club. The suspect was about 270-450 meters away from Trump.
Earlier, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it was conducting an investigation into the shooting in the vicinity of 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.
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.