A criminal complaint against Routh reveals more details about yesterday’s apparent assassination attempt.
In addition to a witness account, Routh was confirmed to be the suspect using phone records that located him in “the vicinity of the area along the tree line” of the Trump International Golf Club from 1:59 a.m. until 1:31 p.m. on Sunday, the complaint said.
At 1:31 p.m., a Secret Service agent assigned to Trump’s security detail was walking the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach when the agent saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of a tree line.
The agent fired their service weapon in the direction of the rifle and a witness saw a man, later identified as Routh, fleeing the area of the tree line, entering a Nissan sport utility vehicle and leaving at a high rate of speed.
In the area of the tree line where Routh fled, agents found a digital camera, two bags, a loaded SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope, and a black plastic bag containing food. The serial number on the rifle “was obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye,” the complaint said.
The agent who wrote the complaint said that such rifles are not manufactured in Florida, and it’s likely the rifle had “traveled in interstate or foreign commerce.”
At 2:14 p.m. the Martin County Sheriff’s Office initiated a motor vehicle stop and Routh was detained. Officers said the license plate of the Nissan he was in was registered to a 2012 white Ford truck that has been reported stolen.
The witness who reported seeing Routh fleeing the area of Trump International was taken to the scene and identified Routh as the man seen earlier.
A review of law enforcement records found that on Dec. 20, 2002, Routh was convicted in Greensboro, North Carolina, of possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction, a class F felony. Records also showed that on March 3, 2010, Routh was convicted of multiple counts of possession of stolen goods.