Former President Donald J. Trump was playing golf on Sunday afternoon in Florida when a Secret Service agent spotted a man with rifle standing by a chain-link fence on the perimeter of the course, law-enforcement officials said.
The agents opened fire, and the man fled in a black Nissan but was eventually taken into custody, the officials said.
Mr. Trump was safe and unharmed, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating the episode as an apparent attempted assassination, the second one against the former president in just over two months. Mr. Trump was wounded in a previous attempt during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pa.
The suspected gunman was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, according to a law-enforcement official who was granted anonymity to describe an open investigation.
The episode unfolded around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday as Mr. Trump was golfing at the Trump International Golf Course West Palm Beach, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County said at a news briefing.
A Secret Service agent standing a hole or two away from Mr. Trump saw the armed man hiding in the shrubbery by a fence at the perimeter of the course, according to Sheriff Bradshaw. The Secret Service fired at the man, said Rafael Barros, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, though it was not immediately clear if the suspect had fired any shots.
Mr. Trump was perhaps 400 yards away from the armed man, Sheriff Bradshaw said.
An AK-47-style rifle with a scope was found near the property line, along with two backpacks that were hung on the fence. The backpacks contained ceramic tile, and investigators also found a video camera, the sheriff said, adding that investigators believed that the man may have intended to film the shooting.
“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said in a statement.
A witness saw the armed man flee from the bushes to a black Nissan, the sheriff said. The witness took a photo of the car and shared it with law enforcement officials. The man was stopped driving northbound on Interstate 95 after crossing into Martin County.
Law enforcement officials are running a trace to determine who bought the gun and where it was sold, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation.
Mr. Trump was golfing with his friend Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate investor, when the shots were fired, according to three people briefed on the matter. Mr. Trump later returned to Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on social media that she had been briefed on the shooting. “I am glad he is safe,” she wrote. “Violence has no place in America.”
In a statement, a White House official said President Biden had also been briefed, along with Ms. Harris. “They are relieved to know that he is safe,” the official said.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, posted on social media that he had spoken with Mr. Trump and he was “in good spirits.”
Mr. Trump’s former White House doctor, Representative Ronny L. Jackson, said that he spoke to Trump on Sunday afternoon.
“He told me he was always glad to hear from me, but he was glad he didn’t need my services today,” Dr. Jackson said. “I just told him I was glad he was OK, and he said he can’t believe this happened.”
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