A 21-year-old North Carolina man was shot and killed early Sunday after breaching the secure perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, prompting a swift response from U.S. Secret Service agents and local law enforcement.
The confrontation unfolded around 1:30 a.m. ET while Trump was in Washington, D.C., and not at the property.
According to the U.S. Secret Service, agents observed the suspect “unlawfully entering the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early this morning.” He was spotted near the north gate carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can — an alarming combination at a property that has been the focus of repeated security concerns.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw described the encounter in stark terms during a news conference. “The only words that we said to him was ‘drop the items’, which means the gas can and the shotgun,” Bradshaw said. “At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position.”
Officers then fired their weapons to “neutralise the threat,” he added.
No law enforcement personnel were injured. Authorities confirmed that the responding officers were equipped with body cameras. Whether the suspect’s shotgun was loaded remains under investigation, with the FBI assisting in determining that detail.
The man was identified as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, in the Carthage area. Earlier Sunday, his family had reported him missing to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office. That department stated it had no prior record involving Martin and has forwarded its missing persons information to federal authorities. It is not participating in the Florida investigation.
Investigators are now examining whether Martin purchased the firearm along his route from North Carolina to Florida, as officials attempt to reconstruct the timeline leading up to the breach.
Those who knew him expressed disbelief.
A friend, Dustin Rollins, called him “probably one of the kinder souls that I’ve actually ever met,” noting that Martin had struggled in the years following the death of his sister three years ago. Friends said he was also an enthusiastic artist who illustrated golf course scenes — a detail that only deepened the shock among those who knew him.
Mar-a-Lago operates under layered security protocols. Local Palm Beach sheriff’s deputies maintain an outer cordon, while the Secret Service secures the inner perimeter. Visitors, vehicles, and bags are screened using dogs, metal detectors, and other measures designed to prevent precisely the kind of intrusion that occurred Sunday morning.
U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran traveled to Florida for after-action reviews and to strengthen operational responses to critical incidents.
The shooting comes amid a string of security threats involving Trump.
In July 2024, he was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman was killed, and one bystander died in that attack. Later that year, Ryan Routh was arrested after a rifle was spotted in bushes near Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach; Routh was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month for attempted assassination.
Following Sunday’s incident, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed to what he described as a broader cultural shift surrounding political violence. Appearing on Fox Business, he accused the political left of “normalizing” such acts.
“Two would-be assassins dead, one in jail for life, and this venom coming from the other side,” Bessent said. “They are normalizing this violence. It’s got to stop.”
He’s not wrong. Study after study has shown that the left has become extremely violent over the past few years, with many of them willing to initiate political killings.
Authorities have not announced a motive for Martin’s actions.
