The FBI says an “apparent assassination attempt” on Donald Trump has been thwarted, with a man arrested and an assault rifle recovered.
Mr Trump was playing a round at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in Florida when gunshots were heard.
Follow latest: Suspect detained after ‘running out of bushes’
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent – who was patrolling the course ahead of Mr Trump – spotted a rifle barrel coming out of a perimeter fence.
“He immediately engaged that individual, at which time the individual took off,” he said.
It is not yet known whether the suspect fired first, fired a round at all or if only the Secret Service fired.
“We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents”, Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, has told a news conference.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump ‘apparent assassination bid’ timeline
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested after his vehicle was stopped by local police, Sky News’s US partner network NBC News reported, citing three senior law enforcement officials.
Officers later searched the area where the man, believed to be Routh, was spotted and found an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two rucksacks and a GoPro.
Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County’s state attorney, told MSNBC that Routh was “lying in wait” for Mr Trump.
Suspect Ryan Routh. Pic: Ryan Routh/Facebook
He said Routh was aiming at Secret Service agents and one of them fired at him.
Earlier, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder described how his officers followed the suspect’s black Nissan SUV for a while before making a “felony stop”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Footage of Trump’s assassination suspect
Pictures of the gun and rucksacks were displayed at the news conference
He said: “Our road units picked the vehicle up and we waited a while. We didn’t stop him right away. We didn’t want a high-speed chase.
“So we were able to wait until we had adequate units, surrounded the vehicle, and forced it to a stop.”
He added they managed to take the suspect into custody peacefully.
Read more:
What we know about what happened so far
Urgent question over how ‘assassination attempt’ may affect election – analysis
Police vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club. Pic: AP
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump says, ‘he will never surrender’
Afterwards, a statement from Mr Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiralling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.
“Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you.”
Mr Trump’s motorcade heading to Mar-a-Lago after the incident
Mr Trump has since returned to his Mar-a-Lago resort.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he had been briefed on the “apparent assassination attempt” and was “relieved that the former president is unharmed”.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,” he said, adding that he has directed his team “to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety”.
A White House statement said earlier: “The president and vice president have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former president Trump was golfing.
“They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”
What do we know about the suspect?
Routh is reported to have travelled to Ukraine in an attempt to help the country in its fight against Russia.
A video has emerged of an interview he gave to Newsweek in 2022 where he spoke about his efforts to recruit volunteers for Ukraine’s ground forces.
Routh had tried to enlist Afghan conscripts by presenting himself as an off-the-books liaison for the Ukrainian government.
In an interview with the news platform Semafor last year, Routh said he was working to find a house in Pakistan to temporarily lodge Afghans hoping to fight in Ukraine.
It has also emerged Routh wrote a book about the Ukraine war where he described how he “gave up and quit”, a decision he says makes him “the worst of humans”.
He writes: “I am the failure, the hypocrite that wants the world to change but let communism beat me down and exhaust me and send me home.
“A mere 5 months and I run for home, not even with the first bit of mud, or cold, or the first bullet, and I am beaten and exhausted in the simplest elementary ground floor challenges of good and evil, and I fail.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky’s Mark Stone reports from outside the golf course in Florida where a suspect was seen with a gun
According to records, Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018, the Associated Press reported.
In relation to the incident at Mr Trump’s golf course on Sunday, Routh’s son has told CNN that he hopes “everything has been blown out of proportion” and that it would be unlike his father to “do anything crazy, much less violent”.
Oran Routh said: “Ryan is my father, and I don’t have any comment beyond a character profile of him as a loving and caring father, and honest, hardworking man… He’s a good father, and a great man, and I hope you can portray him in an honest light.”
It comes two months after Mr Trump sustained an ear injury during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.
The gunman, who was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by the Secret Service at the scene.
The attempt on Mr Trump’s life led to the resignation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who admitted to Congress that her agency had its “most significant operational failure” in decades.