'Will Never Surrender': Donald Trump's First Reaction on Second Assassination Attempt

Florida: Donald Trump has reacted to a second assassination attempt on himself and has said that he will never surrender and that nothing will be able to slow him down. This comes after gunshots were heard near Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

'I Will Never Surrender’: Trump's First Reaction on Assassination Bid

After a second assassination attempt on him, Donald Trump issued a statement and conveyed to his supporters that he is fine. The email by Trump read, “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiralling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!” He wrote: “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”

Trump campaign has also issued a statement saying, Trump is ‘safe following gunshots in his vicinity’.

Second Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump

Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not announced any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf, before having lunch at the club, one of three he owns in the state. Donald Trump was the target of what the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life. The former president said he was safe and well, and authorities held a man in custody.

US Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away. An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The man was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighbouring county. An AK-47 rifle was discovered in the bushes, per a local law enforcement agency.

This comes after an assassination bid on Trump in July when a bullet grazed his ear, while he was addressing a rally in Pennsylvania. 

Who is Ryan Routh, Prime Suspect Behind Trump's Assassination Bid

The man in custody was Ryan Routh, three law enforcement officials told the AP. The officials who identified the suspect spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation. Routh tried to recruit Afghan soldiers fleeing the Taliban to fight in Ukraine, and spent several months in the country, according to an interview with The New York Times last year. He told the newspaper that dozens of potential Afghan recruits have expressed an interest in fighting, and that he hoped to purchase passports for them in Pakistan .

(Inputs from AP)