The apparent would-be Trump assassin arrested at a golf course where Trump was playing Sunday was armed with an AK-47 style rifle, according to law enforcement sources that spoke with CBS News.
FOX News reported that the suspect, who is now in custody, “pointed an AK-47 rifle at former President Trump on a golf course Sunday afternoon.” Secret Service agents saw the gun and opened fire on the suspect around 1:30 p.m.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw noted that the suspect fled once the Secret Service opened fire and a witness saw the fleeing suspect’s vehicle and took a photo of the license plate. Law enforcement was able to use the witness’s information to catch the suspect.
He said law enforcement went to the bushes from which the suspect had emerged and found “an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks which were hung on the fence [and] which had ceramic tile in them, and a G0-Pro.”
Bradshaw explained that a Secret Service agent moving one hole ahead of Trump “was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engaged that individual.”
Sheriff Bradshaw pledged to release more information on the suspect’s background after he is booked.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.