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News Link • Investigations

Mar-a-Lago shotgun-wielding madman ID'd as Austin Tucker Martin, a North Carolina golf course ar

• By Joe Marino, Anthony Blair and Ryan King

Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, was killed by law enforcement in the early hours of Sunday morning, law enforcement sources told The Post.

He was reported missing by his family to authorities on Saturday.

Officials are still investigating whether he bought the gun en route to Florida.

Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time; he was at the White House. On Saturday night, he and first lady Melania hosted the Governors' Dinner, which Democratic governors appear to have boycotted.

A box for the shotgun was discovered in Martin's vehicle following the shooting, which took place at around 1:30 a.m., according to Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

The golf course artist was "ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with them," Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters during a press conference Sunday. 

"At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position."

That's when law enforcement "neutralized the threat." Two Secret Service agents and a sheriff's deputy had confronted the suspect during the scare at Mar-a-Lago.

According to his social media, his family was frantically looking for him after he disappeared on Saturday night.

Tucker Martin's social media shows that he was obsessed with drawing scenes from the golf courses in the Sandhills region — which includes the famed Pinehurst.

His Instagram includes a series of bleak watercolors and black and white sketches, most appearing to show Quail Ridge Golf Course, roughly 15-20 miles north of his home in Cameron.

The posts are accompanied by sparse electronic music and have almost zero social media interaction.

Investigators haven't said whether Martin was previously known to law enforcement.

Authorities have urged nearby residents in South Florida to check their security cameras for any footage that may show him.

He was shot after he failed to drop the shotgun and gas can when he entered the inner perimeter of President Trump's Florida estate.

Martin reportedly drove into the gates of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was leaving. The president is yet to respond officially to Sunday's incident, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the Secret Service's quick thinking in a post on X.

"The United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person, armed with a gun and a gas canister, who intruded President Trump's home," she wrote.


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