Armed man shot and killed at Mar-a-Lago was never interested in politics or guns, cousin says

CAMERON, N.C. (AP) — The 21-year-old North Carolina man who entered a gate at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort with a shotgun before he was shot and killed worked as a golf course groundskeeper and liked to sketch.

Austin Tucker Martin rarely, if ever, talked about politics, seemed afraid of guns, and came from a family of Trump supporters, according to Braeden Fields, a cousin who said the two grew up together.

“I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing,” Fields said. “He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun.”

Martin walked up to the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early Sunday and went through a gate when it opened for employees to leave, a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said Monday. Martin dropped a gas can and raised a shotgun at two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who then opened fire "to neutralize the threat,” said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

Trump, who often spends weekends at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort, was at the White House at the time.

Investigators have not identified a motive. Trump faced two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign, including one just a few miles (kilometers) from Mar-a-Lago when a man was spotted aiming a rifle through shrubbery while Trump was golfing.

Following Sunday's incident, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said investigators believe Martin bought his shotgun while driving to Florida. Authorities said his family had recently reported him missing.

Martin was from central North Carolina, where guns and hunting are a part of life, his cousin said. But whenever they'd go hunting or target shooting, Martin would never pick up a gun, Fields told The Associated Press on Sunday.

He lived with his mother in a modest modular house down a rutted sandy road near the town of Cameron. No one answered the door Monday, and the large police presence from the day before was gone.

Martin’s sister was just 21 when she was killed in a car accident in 2023, and he has an older brother who’s in the military, Fields said.

For the past three years, Martin worked as a groundskeeper at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club.

“It’s tragic. I feel for his family,” said Kelly Miller, president of the course in nearby Southern Pines. “It’s just unfortunate what transpired. It was totally unexpected.”

Martin last year started a business to sell pen drawings he made, according to state records. A website matching the company name features illustrations of golf courses, buildings and ancient Roman architecture.

Politics didn’t seem to be among his interests, his cousin said

“We are big Trump supporters, all of us. Everybody,” Fields said, but his cousin was “real quiet, never really talked about anything.”

This story was corrected to show that the suspect walked through the gate and didn't drive through it.

Associated Press reporters Michelle L. Price in Washington, Ali Swenson in New York, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

A Palm Beach County sheriff deputy talks to a bicyclist on the bridge leading to Mar-a-Lago Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. The U.S. Secret Service announced Sunday that an armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's resort. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

A fisherman casts his neat near Mar-a-Lago Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. The U.S. Secret Service announced Sunday that an armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's resort. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

This image provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, shows a weapon and gas can found after a 21-year-old man was shot and killed by authorities after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office via AP)

A vehicle blocks access to a property in Cameron, N.C., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — West Indies posted the second highest total in Twenty20 World Cup history and thrashed Zimbabwe by 107 runs in the Super Eights on Monday.

West Indies finished with a team record 254-6 after Shimron Hetmyer — dropped on 9 and 70 — bashed 85 off 34 balls with seven sixes, and Rovman Powell hit 59 off 35.

The West Indies batters hit 19 sixes, the joint most in a T20 World Cup innings. Their total was just six runs from the all-time World Cup high of 260-6 by Sri Lanka against Kenya in 2007.

Zimbabwe was all out for 147 in 17.4 overs. Left-arm spinners Gudakesh Motie (4-28) and Akeal Hosein (3-28) did most of the damage. No. 8 batter Brad Evans led with 43 off 21.

In all, 31 sixes were hit during this game, a record in men's T20 World Cups.

West Indies led Group 1 on net run-rate from South Africa. Defending champion India and Zimbabwe have lost their first matches in the tournament.

West Indies next plays South Africa in Ahmedabad on Thursday, when India also takes on Zimbabwe in Chennai.

On Tuesday, England and Pakistan meet in Pallekele.

Hetmyer, batting at No. 3, would have gone in the fourth over but Tashinga Musekiwa failed to catch him out at the square leg boundary.

Hetmyer made Zimbabwe pay. He lost Shai Hope on 14 but was setting the pace with 50 off 19 balls with five sixes. He and Powell brought 100 up in only 9.1 overs. They added 122 off 52 balls, the third highest West Indies partnership for any wicket in T20 World Cups until Hetmyer fell in the 15th over to Graeme Cremer’s wrist spin.

“I like batting at No. 3 and understand the role better because I have been doing it for a while now,” Hetmyer said. “I know how the situations unfold and try not to overthink. It is just one game and there is still a long way to go (for us).”

Powell brought up his 50 off 29 balls. Straight after his fourth six, he whacked a full toss that Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza stopped with his left hand. Raza needed bandaging and the players hugged. Raza said afterward he planned to have the hand scanned.

Sherfane Rutherford added 31 not out off 13 balls, Romario Shepherd hit three sixes in 10 balls, and Jason Holder crunched two sixes in the four balls he faced. Zimbabwe also gave up 21 extras.

It added up to West Indies' third ever 250-plus total in T20s, and a target beyond Zimbabwe’s reach.

That was certain after Hosein bowled a double-wicket maiden, bowling Zimbabwe heavy hitters Brian Bennett (5) and Ryan Burl for a three-ball duck in the third over.

Motie ran through the middle order, including the wicket of Raza.

“We thought when we batted (the pitch) will stay true but it started to turn,” Raza said. “Motie's spell changed the game.”

Evans, under no pressure with a T20 average of 8, improved his career-best score from 24 to 43 when he was the last man out.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

West Indies' Gudakesh Motie celebrates the wicket of Zimbabwe's Tashinga Musekiwa during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Zimbabwe and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

West Indies' Rovman Powell, right, comforts as Zimbabwe's captain Sikandar Raza felt on ground after he was hit by the ball during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Zimbabwe and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

West Indies' Rovman Powell plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Zimbabwe and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

West Indies' Shimron Hetmyer hits a six during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Zimbabwe and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

West Indies' Shimron Hetmyer celebrates his fifty runs during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Zimbabwe and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)