Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
On Sunday, Sep. 15, Donald Trump was the target of yet another assassination attempt a mere couple of months after the attempt at one of his rallies resulting in a minor ear injury. On that day, Trump went to his golf club in West Palm Beach to rest. When Trump stepped outside it wasn’t long before shots were heard and fired. The secret service agents posted a couple holes away from where Trump was playing golf when they noticed the muzzle of an AK style rifle sticking out of a bush. The agents fired at the bush, which scared the gunman into taking off.
“An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera,” said Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw in an AP News interview. Mere minutes after the attempt, an urgent BOLO, better known as Be On The Lookout, was issued before the gunman was discovered. The suspect who was arrested was 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh in a neighboring county. Routh never questioned his arrest. Routh has been charged with two firearm offenses in federal court in Palm Beach.
According to AP News, an anonymous source spoke publicly that Trump returned to his private club, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, after the ordeal. Trump sent out a fundraising email informing his fans that he was safe and well after the incident.
According to CBS News, this isn’t Routh’s first run-in with the law. His record dates all the way back to the 1990s. One of these records reveal Routh was charged and convicted of numerous offenses in North Carolina. Notably in 2002, Routh was arrested for a felony after being charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Other charges include hit and run and resisting arrest.The matter of the second attempt on Trump’s life is still under investigation at this time.
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