The gunman who was shot dead after trying to enter Mar-a-Lago with a shotgun and a gas can has been identified as a North Carolina artist who was reported missing by his mom.
Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, was killed by law enforcement in the early hours of Sunday morning, law enforcement.
He was reported missing by his family to authorities on Saturday.
Officials are still investigating whether he bought the gun en route to Florida.
According to his social media, his family was frantically looking for him after he disappeared on Saturday night.
Tucker Martin’s social media shows that he was obsessed with drawing scenes from the golf courses in the Sandhills region — which includes the famed Pinehurst.
The incident comes as the United States has been rocked by spasms political violence.
The incursion at Mar-a-Lago took place a few miles from Trump’s West Palm Beach club where a man tried to assassinate him while he played golf during the 2024 campaign.
A Secret Service agent spotted that man, Ryan Routh, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire and caused Routh to drop his weapon.
Routh was found guilty last year and sentenced this month to life in prison.
Trump also survived an assassination attempt at a Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally. That gunman fired eight shots before being killed by a Secret Service counter sniper.
The White House referred all questions to the Secret Service and FBI.
There have been other recent incidents of political violence as well.
In the last year, there was the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk; the assassination of the Democratic leader in the Minnesota state House and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife; and an arson attack at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Five days ago, a Georgia man armed with a shotgun was arrested as he sprinted towards the west side of the U.S. Capitol.
