![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768972148_849_369958dc66697d0627416b0b8924e301553f0262.png\")
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Updated February 23, 2026 \u2014 9:09am,first published 3:30am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Washington: Police have shot and killed a man in his early 20s who was trying to break into Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, armed with a shotgun and a fuel canister, authorities say.<\/p>\n The man breached the secure perimeter on the north side of the property about 1.30am on Sunday (Florida time) when he was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a local police officer.<\/p>\n Trump was not in the area at the time \u2013 he was at the White House in Washington, where he hosted a ball for state governors.<\/p>\n Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the Secret Service agents and sheriff\u2019s deputy ordered the man to \u201cdrop the items\u201d. He then put down the fuel can and \u201craised the shotgun to a shooting position\u201d, Bradshaw said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt that point in time, the deputy and the two Secret Service agents fired their weapons and neutralised the threat. He is deceased at the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n The man killed was identified by investigators as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin, according to a person familiar with the matter speaking anonymously to AP.<\/p>\n Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Martin had been reported missing by his family a few days ago, and investigators believe he headed south and picked up the shotgun along the way.<\/p>\n A box for the weapon was discovered in a vehicle after the incident, which took place about 1.30am Florida time, Guglielmi said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The FBI has asked residents near Mar-a-Lago to check their security camera footage. In a post on X, FBI director Kash Patel said the bureau would be \u201cdedicating all necessary resources\u201d to the investigation.<\/p>\n Investigators are working to compile a psychological profile, and a motive is still under investigation. Asked whether the man was known to law enforcement, Bradshaw said, \u201cNot right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Braeden Fields, Martin\u2019s cousin, reacted with disbelief. He described Martin as quiet, afraid of guns and from a family of avid Trump supporters.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a good kid,\u201d Fields, 19, said. He said they grew up together. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t believe he would do something like this. It\u2019s mind-blowing,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n Last year, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated<\/a> while speaking on campus at a university in Utah. Melissa Hortman, a Democratic politician in the state of Minnesota, was assassinated alongside her husband in June<\/a> in another act of politically motivated violence.<\/p>\n Trump has yet to comment on Sunday\u2019s incident, but Attorney-General Pam Bondi said she had spoken to the president and was co-ordinating the response with federal partners.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, senior White House staffers, including press secretary Karoline Leavitt, used the incident to criticise Democrats for voting against a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, including the Secret Service, because of concerns about immigration enforcement agencies such as ICE.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the middle of the night while most Americans were asleep, 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\u2019s home,\u201d Leavitt said on X.<\/p>\n \u201cFederal law enforcement are working 24\/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans. It\u2019s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their department.\u201d<\/p>\n With AP, Reuters<\/p>\n Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9ee71124c311a30c880806f78b4f1fda1292ae5b.png\")
The suspect has been identified as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin from North Carolina.<\/p>\n![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1248193d9b9351982bc2d8c00bb7bd3987a7bbd5.jpeg\")
Police near the scene.AP<\/p>\n![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ac512427208e3f562af9f802b541284540f4dc47.jpeg\")
Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at the governors\u2019 dinner at the White House.Bloomberg<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/369958dc66697d0627416b0b8924e301553f0262.png\")
Michael Koziol<\/a> is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated February 23, 2026 \u2014 9:09am,first published 3:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-497724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}