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FBI still working to confirm whether Ryan Wesley Routh acted alone

Routh faces federal gun charges

The Justice Department, FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office held a news conference Monday afternoon to provide the latest update on the investigation into the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. holds a news conference with other federal officials and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office on Sept. 16, 2024, regarding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

By: Scott Sutton , Associated Press

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PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Justice Department, FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office held a news conference Monday afternoon to provide the latest update on the investigation into the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.

Among those who spoke at the news conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office included the following:

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida
Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office
Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. of the U.S. Secret Service
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw

Rowe said the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, "did not have a line of sight to the former president" and did not fire at Secret Service agents before he fled the scene.
"As former President Trump was moving through the fifth fairway across the [golf] course, and out of sight of the sixth green, the [Secret Service] agent who was visually sweeping the area of the sixth green saw the subject armed with what he perceived to be a rifle and immediately discharged his firearm," Rowe said.

After the gunfire, agents near Trump evacuated the former president to a safe location.

Following the latest apparent assassination attempt on Trump, the acting director of the Secret Service said that protective measures are working.

WATCH BELOW: Officials give update on investigation of apparent assassination attempt on Trump:

Suspect 'did not have a line of sight to the former president,' Secret Service says

Rowe said he spoke with the former president and that Trump is "aware that he has the highest levels of protection" from the agency. He also said agents did their jobs to the letter when they noticed a man poking a rifle through the bushes at Trump's golf course on Sunday.

Rowe said the golf trip wasn't on Trump's schedule, so they put together a security plan.

"And that security plan worked out," he said.

Veltri said the FBI has already interviewed seven witnesses who were near the scene on Sunday. He said agents in Hawaii and North Carolina have initiated interviews with several family members, friends and former colleagues of Routh.

An SKS-model rifle and scope were found outside Trump's golf course after Routh's arrest on Sunday. Veltri said DNA has been collected from the items, which are being sent to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia for testing.

Investigators said they are working to compile the movements "in the days and months" leading up to Sunday's incident.

"Cellular data shows that (Routh) was in the vicinity of the golf course roughly 12 hours before the engagement with the United States Secret Service," Veltri said.

Authorities have no information so far to suggest that Routh was acting with anyone else.

Veltri cautioned that the investigation is still underway and that authorities are working to confirm whether Routh acted alone.

Officials said security around Mar-a-Lago is currently at the "highest level possible."

Routh was in federal court in West Palm Beach for an initial appearance Monday morning.

He is currently facing two federal gun charges: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon along with possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

More of WPTV's coverage of Trump assassination attempt below: