U.S. Secret Service agents and a local deputy shot and killed a 21-year-old North Carolina man who breached the entrance of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort early Sunday, authorities said.
Trump was not at the property. The intruder, identified by the FBI as Austin Tucker Martin from the Carthage area, carried a gas can and a shotgun when he entered the north gate around 1:30 a.m. as another vehicle was leaving, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and Secret Service officials.
Confronted just inside the front gate by two agents and the deputy, Martin was told to drop the items, Bradshaw said at a news conference. He put the gas can down and pointed the shotgun at the officers, who fired their weapons to “neutralize the threat.”
Martin died at the scene. Authorities did not specify how many shots were fired or if the shotgun was loaded, but noted the deputy wore a body camera.
Investigators found a box for the shotgun in Martin’s vehicle, which they believe he purchased en route south, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. No motive has been determined, and Bradshaw said Martin was not previously known to law enforcement.
The FBI is leading the probe into Martin’s background, the trespass, and the shooting, assisted by the Secret Service and the sheriff’s office. Agents involved were placed on administrative leave per protocol. FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles urged nearby residents to call 800-225-5324 if they have surveillance video showing anything that “looks suspicious or out of place.”
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.
Martin’s family had reported him missing hours earlier, around 1:38 a.m., after no contact since before 8 p.m. Saturday, according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina. Social media posts from relatives sought help locating him.
Martin’s cousin, Braeden Fields, 19, expressed shock, describing Martin as a quiet golf course worker who donated paycheck portions to charity.
“He’s a good kid,” Fields said, the Associated Press reported. “I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing.”
Fields added that Martin was “afraid of guns” and apolitical.
“He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun,” he said.
The family supports Trump, Fields noted: “We are big Trump supporters, all of us. Everybody,” but Martin was “real quiet, never really talked about anything.”
The incident adds to security breaches at Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, including Yujing Zhang’s deportation after a trespass conviction and Anthony Reyes’ arrest for scaling a wall to propose to Trump’s granddaughter.
It follows recent threats against Trump, including two 2024 assassination attempts: one at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where a gunman killed an attendee before being fatally shot by agents, and another at a West Palm Beach golf course where Ryan Routh was spotted aiming a rifle and later sentenced to life in prison.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that “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.”
She tied the event to a partial government shutdown starting February 14, blaming Democrats for demanding deportation policy changes affecting the Homeland Security Department, including the Secret Service.
“Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans,” Leavitt said. “It’s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department.”
Trump and his wife posted unrelated statements on social media afterward.
The breach occurred amid heightened political violence, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk; the killings of a Minnesota Democratic House leader and her husband, plus a shooting of another lawmaker and his wife; an arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence; and a Georgia man’s arrest five days ago while running toward the U.S. Capitol with a shotgun.
Trump is set to give his State of the Union address at the Capitol on Tuesday.