Foiled Assassination Attempt: Witness Captures Suspect's Escape in Florida

Authorities in Florida have revealed that a witness managed to snap a photo of the suspect accused in the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump as he fled the scene on Sunday. The incident occurred at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, where the Secret Service was able to thwart the attack, leading to the suspect's apprehension.

Witness Aids in Suspect's Capture

Witness Provides Crucial Evidence

At a press conference held alongside the FBI, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw shared the details of the incident. He stated that a shots-fired call came in from the Secret Service around 1:30 p.m., and units already in the vicinity of the golf course quickly sealed off the area. Fortunately, a witness came forward and provided valuable information to the authorities."Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness that came to us and said, 'Hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tag,' which was great," Bradshaw told reporters. This crucial evidence allowed the authorities to track down the suspect's vehicle on I-95 as it headed into Martin County, where the Martin County Sheriff's Office was able to pull it over and detain the individual.

Suspect Identified and Apprehended

The witness was then brought to the scene to identify the detained individual, and he confirmed that the person was the same one he had seen running out of the bushes and jumping into the car. Authorities later identified the suspect as Ryan Welsey Routh, who is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday morning.

Weapon and Evidence Recovered

In the bushes, law enforcement recovered an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks "which were hung on the fence that had ceramic tile in them," and a GoPro camera. The sheriff praised the quick actions of the Secret Service agent on the course, who spotted the rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engaged the suspect, causing him to flee.

Limitations in Security Perimeter

While commending the Secret Service's response, Bradshaw acknowledged the limitations in the security perimeter around Trump, who was not the sitting president at the time. "You got to understand, the golf course is surrounded by shrubbery. So when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they're pretty much out of sight," Bradshaw said. "And at this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president. If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. Well, because he's not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible."

Federal Investigation Underway

Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office, confirmed that the FBI is leading the federal investigation into the incident. He stated that the bureau has "deployed a number of resources, including investigative teams, crisis response team members, bomb technicians and evidence response team members." Veltri called on the public to avoid the area and vowed that the FBI will continue to support the investigation with the full resources of the agency, alongside its partners at the Secret Service and local law enforcement.