The Latest: Armed man shot, killed after entering perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Secret Service says

An armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Although Trump often spends weekends at his resort, he was at the White House during this incident. The incident took place at 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

First lady Melania Trump was also with the president at the White House on Saturday night. The name of the person who was shot has not been released.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said there was no immediate indication that the suspect was known to law enforcement. He was identified as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of North Carolina.

The latest:

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that she had been speaking with the president.

She added that she is “coordinating with our federal partners throughout the morning regarding the intrusion and shooting at Mar-A-Lago. Grateful that @potus and our law enforcement agents are safe.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said in post on X that the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X:

“In the middle of the night while most Americans were asleep, the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person, armed with a gun and a gas canister, who intruded President Trump’s home. Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans. It’s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department.”

Though details of the armed man’s motive for entering the Mar-a-Lago perimeter are not yet known, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a Fox News interview on Sunday morning reacted by criticizing Democratic rhetoric.

“This existential threat that’s venom from the left really has to stop,” said Bessent, who added he had just spoken with Trump.

The man killed was identified by investigators as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin, according to a person familiar with the matter. He was from North Carolina.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.

- By Alanna Durkin Richer

The man had a gas can and a shotgun, according to Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman.

Asked whether the suspect was known to law enforcement, Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said “not right now.”

Five days ago, U.S. Capitol Police arrested a Georgia gunman armed with a shotgun as he sprinted towards the west side of the U.S. Capitol.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw, speaking at a brief press conference, said the man was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a sheriff’s deputy.

“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with them. At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said. The two agents and the deputy “fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”

The FBI asked area residents who live near Mar-a-Lago to check any security cameras they may have for footage that could help investigators.

The suspect, who was in his early 20s and from North Carolina, was reported missing a few days ago by his family.

Investigators believe he left North Carolina and headed south, picking up a shotgun along the way, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The box for the gun was recovered in his vehicle, Guglielmi said. The man drove through the north gate of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was exiting and was confronted by Secret Service agents, Guglielmi said.

The agents confronted the armed man and he was fatally shot. Investigators are working to compile a psychological profile and a motive is still under investigation.

Trump has faced threats to his life before. He was wounded during an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024.

Then on Sept. 15, 2024, a man with a rifle was captured after waiting near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach while the president played a round. He was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month.

The incident comes as the U.S. has been rocked multiple times in recent years by political violence.

Just last year, that included the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the assassination of the Democratic leader in the Minnesota state House and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife, and an arson attack at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

FILE - This is an aerial view of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Aug. 10, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

President Donald Trump speaks during the National Governors Association dinner at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

PARIS (AP) — France will summon U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner to protest comments by the Trump administration over the beating death of a far-right activist, the foreign affairs minister said.

Jean-Noel Barrot was reacting to a statement by the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, which posted on X that “reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all.”

Deranque, a far-right activist, died of brain injuries last week from a beating in the French city of Lyon. He was attacked during a fight on the margins of a student meeting where a far-left lawmaker, Rima Hassan, was a keynote speaker.

His killing highlighted a climate of deep political tensions ahead of next year’s presidential vote. French President Emmanuel Macron called for calm on Saturday as some 3,000 people joined a march in Lyon organized by far-right groups to pay tribute to Deranque.

“We reject any instrumentalization of this tragedy, which has plunged a French family into mourning, for political ends,” Barrot said. “We have no lessons to learn, particularly on the issue of violence, from the international reactionary movement.”

The State Department said in its post that “violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety. We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.”

Seven people have been handed preliminary charges. The Lyon public prosecutor’s office requested that each of them be charged with intentional homicide, aggravated violence and criminal conspiracy. Six of the accused were charged on all three counts. The seventh was charged with complicity in intentional homicide, aggravated violence and criminal conspiracy.

Barrot said he has other topics to discuss with Kushner, including U.S. decisions to impose sanctions on Thierry Breton, a former EU commissioner responsible for supervising social media rules, and Nicolas Guillou, a French judge at the International Criminal Court.

Barrot said both are targeted by “unjustified and unjustifiable” sanctions.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry did not say when the meeting will take place.

Kushner had already been summoned in August last year over his letter to Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism. France’s foreign officials met with a representative of the U.S. ambassador since the diplomat did not show up.

People hold a banner reading 'Goodbye mate' as they take part in a march in Lyon, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, to pay tribute to Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old nationalist activist who died from a beating after a clash between far-left and far-right supporters. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)