By Jacki Thrapp
A man in his 20s was shot and killed by Secret Service agents on Feb. 22 as he allegedly tried to unlawfully enter a secure perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
A deputy and two Secret Service agents responded to the resort’s north front gate at about 1:30 EST a.m on Feb. 22 after a security detail detected that the person entered the inner perimeter, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw.
“Preliminary information indicates that the individual was armed with a shotgun and in possession of a gasoline canister,” Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami Field Office, told reporters on the morning of Feb. 22.
Agents told the man to “drop the items,” but he did not, Barros said.
“Agents and the deputy discharged their firearms to stop the threat,” he said.
The man died at the scene, and his identity has not yet been revealed.
The FBI is leading the case, and the investigation is ongoing, including into the man’s motive, according to Bradshaw.
No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident, but the Secret Service agents involved in the shooting were placed on routine administrative leave, which is agency policy.
Trump was in Washington during the incident.
