21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin has been identified as the armed intruder who was shot on Sunday after trying to break into US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Secret Service had earlier said that Martin, who was a US citizen, was from North Carolina, and was reported missing by his family just days ago, as per an Associated Press report citing officials in the know.
In an X post on Sunday, Trump ally Laura Loomer released Facebook screenshots seeking information about a missing 21-year-old named Austin Tucker Martin—who is also named Tucker “Austin” Martin in some of the screenshots.
However, Loomer could not confirm if they were photos of the Mar-a-Lago infiltrator.
“Is this the same Austin Tucker Martin who was just shot and killed by Secret Service @SecretService at Mar a Lago? … If it’s the same person, it appears he also has a sister who committed suicide in August of 2023,” she speculated in the post.
Notably, one of the posts about the missing Martin—posted by a woman named Chrissie Fields claiming to be his aunt—said that the disappearance had been reported to the police and the FBI.
Netizens immediately turned suspicious, questioning why the FBI had been immediately informed for a missing persons case, which are typically handled by local police.
According to Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi, it is believed Martin left North Carolina and travelled further south, obtaining a shotgun along the way. The box that this gun came in has been recovered.
How it happened
Martin had driven through the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago estate just as another vehicle was exiting, Guglielmi added.
Armed with “what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can” at about 1:30 AM, he was spotted by two Secret Service personnel, as well as a sheriff’s deputy, it had said in an earlier statement.
They allegedly first tried instructing him to drop his equipment. While he reportedly did put down the gas can, the man raised his shotgun to a “shooting position”, which was when the three opened fire at him, in order to “neutralise the threat”.
Martin’s psychological profile is being pieced together as the investigation into his motive continues.
