Feb. 22, 2026 — Palm Beach, Fla. A 21-year-old man armed with a shotgun and gasoline canister, identified as Austin Tucker Martin of Cameron, North Carolina, was fatally shot by two U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy after breaching the secure perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Martin ignored commands to drop his weapons, set down the canister but raised the shotgun toward officers near the north gate, prompting the shooting, according to officials at a joint press conference.
President Trump was not at the property, as he was in Washington, D.C., hosting a dinner for governors at the White House the previous night, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and U.S. Secret Service representatives confirmed. No law enforcement personnel were injured.
At the 9:40 a.m. news briefing by the FBI, Secret Service, and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Bradshaw detailed the confrontation:
“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him. At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position. [The two agents and the deputy] fired their weapons to neutralize the threat. He is deceased at the scene.”
The FBI is leading the investigation, with its evidence team processing the scene and requesting nearby surveillance footage from residents. Agents wore body cameras, and the involved Secret Service personnel are on administrative leave per protocol.
Officials displayed a photo of the recovered shotgun and gas canister during the briefing. Martin reportedly drove through the normally closed Ocean Boulevard gate by tailing an exiting employee vehicle and had purchased the shotgun en route from North Carolina, where his family had reported him missing beforehand, per local reports.
“We want to be clear, the president of the United States was not in the state of Florida. And this remains an active investigation by the FBI,” a Secret Service special agent stated at the conference.
Sheriff Bradshaw noted the response demonstrated effective security: “It worked like it was supposed to work.” Authorities described the incident as isolated, with no ongoing threat identified.
