Secret Service Agents Fatally Shoot Man Trying to Unlawfully Enter Mar-a-Lago
by Jackie Thrapp, The Epoch Times, February 23, 2026
A man in his 20s was shot and killed by Secret Service agents on Feb. 22 as he allegedly tried to unlawfully enter a secure perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
A deputy and two Secret Service agents responded to the resort’s north front gate at about 1:30 EST a.m on Feb. 22 after a security detail detected that the person entered the inner perimeter, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw.
“Preliminary information indicates that the individual was armed with a shotgun and in possession of a gasoline canister,” Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami Field Office, told reporters on the morning of Feb. 22.
Agents told the man to “drop the items,” but he did not, Barros said.
“Agents and the deputy discharged their firearms to stop the threat,” he said.
The FBI has identified the man as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, from North Carolina.
The Moore County Sheriff’s Department said a relative reported him missing on Feb. 22. The missing person case has been turned over to federal investigators.
According to Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, law enforcement observed a man at the north gate carrying ”what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can” and confronted him. Shots were fired during the encounter, and the man died at the scene.
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FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X that the bureau will dedicate “all necessary resources” to the investigation and continue to work closely with Secret Service and state and federal partners.
The motive behind the incident remains under investigation. Guglielmi said on X that law enforcement is also looking into the man’s background, actions, and the use of force.
No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident, but the Secret Service agents involved in the shooting were placed on routine administrative leave, which is agency policy.
Trump was in Washington during the incident.
