Washington, Sep 16
Fifty-eight-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh has been identified in US media reports as the man alleged to have tried to kill former US President Donald Trump as he played golf at his Golf Course in Florida on Sunday.
Routh is said to be a resident of Hawaii, worked as a construction worker in North Carolina and has tried to recruit fighters in support of Ukraine in its defence against Russian invasions.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it was investigating the incident as an "attempted assassination".
"The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach, Florida, and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump," the agency said in a statement.
Investigators found an AK-47 style rifle, two backpacks filled with ceramic tile and a GoPro camera that he had abandoned.
This was a second assassination attempt on Trump in just more than two months.
The first was in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 when he was hit in the right ear.
The shooter, who was operating by himself, was killed by a law enforcement sniper.
The Sunday incident took place at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach around 1:30 p.m.
Investigators said a US Secret Service agent moving ahead of the former President to secure the area noticed a gun sticking out from a portion of the thick foliage around the periphery of the Golf Course.
The agent went in that direction and it was not clear yet if the suspect had opened fire. But he was about 350 to 500 yard behind -- between the fifth and sixth holes -- which was not out range for the scape on the rifle -- between.
A witness saw the suspect, investigators said, took a picture of the car and the registration plate and he was pulled over shortly and taken into custody.