Donald Trump was subject of 'apparent assassination attempt', FBI says

The FBI says former US president Donald Trump was the subject of “an apparent assassination attempt” at his Florida golf club.

Police have said that a man who pointed a rifle through the fence at the West Palm Beach golf course was around 400-500 yards away from the former president. They said he also had a scope, backpacks and a GoPro camera.

The Republican presidential candidate has returned to his Mar-a-Lago resort after shots were fired in his vicinity at the golf course. on Sunday (September 15), according to an Associated Press source. Mr Trump's campaign team has confirmed that he is safe.

READ MORE: Trump safe after gunshots reported in his vicinity in Florida, campaign team say

US Secret Service agents opened fire after seeing a person with a firearm near Mr Trump’s golf club, according to law enforcement officials. The person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended in a nearby county by local law enforcement, the officials said.

The officials were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity about an ongoing investigation. An AK-style firearm was recovered at the scene near Mr Trump’s golf course, one of the officials said.

The golf course was partially shut down for Mr Trump as he played, and agents were a few holes ahead of him when they noticed the person with the firearm, the officials said. The person appeared to push the muzzle of the rifle through the fence line and that is when agents fired, the officials said

Mr Trump’s campaign and the Secret Service said he was safe, and the agency said it was investigating the incident that occurred shortly before 2pm local time. The incident comes two months after Mr Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a rally