Suspected gunman identified after being shot dead at Mar-a-Lago – US politics live

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Investigators are continuing working to compile a psychological profile and establish a motive. Asked by journalists yesterday whether the suspect was previously known to law enforcement, Palm Beach county sheriff Ric Bradshaw said “not right now”.

Martin's family had reported him missing on Sunday morning - sheriff's office

The Moore County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina said a relative of Martin’s reported him missing early on Sunday morning.

In a statement posted to Facebook, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office wrote:

The Moore County Sheriff’s Office confirms that on February 22, 2026, at approximately 1:38 a.m., a relative of 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin approached a deputy at a local business and reported him missing. He was subsequently entered into a national missing person database.

Following that report, federal authorities informed the Sheriff’s Office that they are conducting an active investigation in Florida involving Martin. At their request, the missing person case information has been turned over to federal investigators.

The Moore County Sheriff’s Office had no prior history involving Martin before the missing person report.

Suspected gunman was 'very quiet' and came from a family of 'big Trump supporters', cousin says

The New York Times is reporting that Austin Tucker Martin graduated from Union Pines High School in Cameron, North Carolina, in 2023, and started an artwork company last June that specialised in handmade drawings of golf courses.

According to its website, Fresh Sky Illustrations:

Is an artwork company that mainly focuses on bringing to life the hopeful feeling of being on a golf course by illustrating golf course scenes and providing framed copies of handmade works in various golf course gift shops while handling personal commissions on the side.

Combining the aesthetics of the sunny outdoors, and old digital aesthetics from the mid 2000s, Fresh Sky Illustrations hopes to awaken a sense of hope and comfort with this handcrafted webpage design.

Austin Tucker Martin was described by his cousin as quiet, afraid of guns and from a family of avid Trump supporters. Photograph: Social Media

Martin, who lived in a part of North Carolina renowned for its golf courses, was a registered voter, although state voting records indicate he wasn’t affiliated to a particular party.

The 21-year-old was described by his cousin Braeden Fields as “very quiet” and inexperienced with guns.

“He doesn’t even know how to use a gun. He’s never used a gun,” Fields, 19, told ABC station WTVD hours after Martin had been killed.

Fields said the family are “big Trump supporters” and that Martin has an older brother in the military.

Martin “never really talked about … he didn’t want to get into politics,” Fields said, adding that Martin worked at a golf course, preparing it for the season, and liked to send his paychecks to charity.

“We grew up together, practically,” Fields said. “I never, I wouldn’t believe that he would do something like this. Mind-blowing.”

Suspected gunman identified after being shot dead inside Mar-a-Lago perimeter

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.

The armed man who US Secret Service agents killed yesterday after allegedly breaching the secure perimeter of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida has been identified in media reports as Austin Tucker Martin, a 21-year-old illustrator from Cameron, North Carolina.

Although the US president often spends weekends at the oceanfront resort, he was at the White House in Washington during this incident, as was first lady Melania Trump.

At a press conference on Sunday morning, Ric Bradshaw, the sheriff of Palm Beach county, said that the suspect was carrying a gas canister and a shotgun.

Bradshaw later confirmed Austin’s identity after initially withholding it until officials could notify his family, according to the Washington Post.

Austin’s family in North Carolina had reported him missing in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office.

As my colleague Richard Luscombe notes in this story, Bradshaw told reporters that two Secret Service agents and one of his deputies went to the north gate of the property at about 1.30am ET (06:30 GMT) after a security detail alerted them that a person was within an inner perimeter.

There, they confronted a white male carrying a shotgun and a gasoline can, Bradshaw said.

“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him, at which time he put down the gas can (and) raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” the sheriff said.

“At that point in time, the deputy and the two Secret Service agents fired their weapons and neutralized the threat. He is deceased at the scene.”

A motive has not beeen determined by investigators, who are being led by the FBI. The security breach follows two assassination attempts against Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign.

A US Secret Service security tower at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on 22 February 2026. Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters