Inside the fateful 12 hours of an apparent assassination attempt outside the Trump International Golf Club
By Jeremy Herb, CNN
(CNN) — Donald Trump was walking down the fifth hole of the championship course at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, preparing for his birdie putt, when the all-too-familiar sound of gunfire prompted his Secret Service detail to pounce on the former president.
This time, however, the only shots fired came from the gun of an agent protecting Trump, and not a gunman who had staked out the former president. Trump was whisked away to safety, unharmed, while the gunman, who officials believe remained near the tree-line perimeter of the golf course for 12 hours, fled the scene by car.
Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against Trump – the second in the past two months – has sparked a range of questions, including about the movements and motivations of the suspect now in custody and whether the Secret Service provided adequate protection for a last-minute golf outing.
Investigators believe Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt, arrived to the tree-lined fence of the golf course’s southern perimeter on Summit Boulevard at 1:59 a.m. Sunday morning, based on the location data from his cell phone. Phone records from T-Mobile that indicated Routh’s phone was “in the vicinity of the golf course” for roughly 12 hours before he was first spotted by US Secret Service, according to charging documents.
Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office, said at a Monday news conference, said that the cell-phone data indicated he was in “very close proximity to where he was spotted by the Secret Service.”
Authorities found a sniper’s nest along the fence. Routh allegedly had an SKS-style rifle, with a scope and obliterated serial number. A backpack hung on the fence that contained ceramic tiles like those used in bulletproof vests. A GoPro camera and a black plastic bag with food were also hung on the course fence, according to a photo from the crime scene released Sunday.
It’s still not clear why Routh went to the golf course that day. There was nothing on Trump’s public schedule, and the golf round was a last-minute add to Trump’s calendar –an “off-the-record movement,” acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe explained Monday.
The temperature in West Palm Beach reached 90-degrees on the humid and cloudy September day, hardly ideal golfing weather. Still, Trump is a creature of habit and frequently golfs at the course while staying at Mar-a-Lago.
On Sunday, the former president teed off the along with a donor, Steve Witkoff. By the fifth hole, Trump was having a good start to his round – Trump told Sean Hannity he was at even par, the Fox News host said after the incident on Sunday, while a source told CNN Trump joked that he was actually at two-under par and in the middle of a “wonderful game of golf.”
Trump had a putt for birdie awaiting him on the fifth green, Hannity said the former president told him.
While Trump was walking along the fifth hole, a long par-three over a water hazard, one of the teams of Secret Service agents protecting him was one hole ahead, sweeping the perimeter of the course on the sixth hole before Trump played it.
At 1:31 p.m. ET, the agent on the course the perimeter spotted what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line. He fired in the direction of the rifle, according to the criminal complaint.
“As former President Trump was moving through the fifth fairway, across the course and out of sight of the sixth green, the agent, who was visually sweeping the area of the sixth green, saw the subject armed with what he perceived to be a rifle and immediately discharged his firearm,” Rowe said Monday.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said on Sunday that the Routh was roughly 300-to-500 yards from the former president.
The would-be gunman never had a line of sight on the former president, Rowe said Monday, adding: “He did not fire or get off any shots at our agents.”
Trump publicly recounted the incident for the first time Monday evening during an X Spaces conversation.
“All of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five, and it sounded like bullets. But what do I know about that? But Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me, and I think probably the other one, Steve is one of the people. Steve Witkoff, a great friend of mine,” Trump said.
“So we’re in the group and everybody just, we got into the carts, and we moved along pretty, pretty good,” he continued. “I was with an agent, and the agent did a fantastic job. There was no question that we were off that course. I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, let’s get out of here.”
The suspect flees and officers ‘flooded’ highway
After the Secret Service agent fired at his position on the fence, Routh fled into in a black Nissan SUV, driving east toward I-95 and heading north on the freeway, officials said.
Crucially, a witness nearby spotted Routh leaving the scene, and took a picture of his car and license plate. That allowed law enforcement officials across multiple jurisdictions to ultimately stop Routh’s vehicle about 45 minutes later in Martin County, more than 40 miles to the north of the golf course.
The eyewitness provided “remarkable assistance” leading to the arrest of the suspect, Veltri said Monday.
At about 1:55 p.m. ET Sunday, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office received a BOLO – or “be on the lookout” alert – about a suspect heading north on I-95, with a vehicle description and a tag number.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said his agency “flooded” the highway. The area around where Routh was detained Sunday was “crawling with law enforcement,” he said.
Every available unit – about 30 in all, he estimated – went out to search, Snyder said Monday.
One patrol deputy saw the suspect vehicle at about mile marker 110 and alerted others, following it but not trying to immediately stop the vehicle, Snyder said. Instead, the deputy waited for two large F-250 pickup trucks to get in place on the highway and force the vehicle to a stop near State Route 714.
Deputies conducted a felony stop at 2:14 p.m. ET, calling Routh out of the vehicle. He came back and was handcuffed, the sheriff said, and taken into custody, Snyder said. Routh was asked if he knew why he was stopped, and he answered “in the affirmative,” according to the affidavit supporting the criminal complaint.
“His facial affect was so flat. His demeanor was relaxed,” Snyder said of Routh. “I honestly thought it looked like somebody that had just left the church picnic and was on his way home.”
Routh was driving his daughter’s car when he was detained, according to a law enforcement source. The license plate on the Nissan SUV was registered to a 2012 white Ford truck that had been reported stolen, according to the charging documents.
The witness who initially spotted Routh fleeing the golf course was flown by the Palm Beach County sheriff’s helicopter to the scene to identify Routh once he was in custody, Snyder told CNN’s Erin Burnett Monday evening. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office turned Routh over to the FBI and Secret Service once they arrived on the scene, Snyder added.
Routh was charged Monday morning with two initial counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Additional charges could be brought, law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
CNN’s Kristen Holmes, Evan Perez, Holmes Lybrand, Michael Williams, Devan Cole, Eric Levinson and Andy Rose contributed to this report.
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