The crazed gunman who was sH๏τ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ after trying to enter Mar-a-Lago with a sH๏τgun and a gas can has been identified as a North Carolina artist who was reported missing by his mom.
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.
Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, was ID’d as the gunman killed by Secret Service agents at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Facebook/Melissa Martin
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 sH๏τgun 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 sH๏τgun 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.
One of the gunman’s black-and-white drawings of a nearby golf course.
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.
Martin pictured with his family members Josh, Jacob and Melissa (left to right).
He was sH๏τ after he failed to drop the sH๏τgun 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.
Martin was reported missing by his family on Saturday.
She also used the post to slam the “reckless” actions of the Democrats who triggered a partial government shutdown affecting the Homeland Security department since Feb. 14.
“Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans. It’s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department,” Leavitt said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation, in a post on X.
It comes just five days after a Georgia man armed with a sH๏τgun was arrested outside the US Capitol as he sprinted towards the west side of the building.
Martin was sH๏τ after he failed to drop the sH๏τgun and gas can he was carrying.
The incident at Mar-a-Lago took place just a few miles from Trump’s West Palm Beach club, where Ryan Routh tried to ᴀssᴀssinate the president while he played golf during the 2024 election.
Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent aiming a rifle through the shrubbery before Trump came into view.
He was arrested after being incapacitated by officials and found guilty last year.
Routh was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month.
Also in 2024, President Trump survived an ᴀssᴀssination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when gunman Thomas Crooks fired eight sH๏τs, grazing the president’s ear and killing an attendee before he was taken out by Secret Service counter sniper.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blasted Democrats and accused them of fueling attempted political violence against Trump in the wake of the most recent Mar-a-Lago security scare.
“This venom coming from the other side,” Bessent told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “We don’t know whether this person was a mastermind, unhinged, or what, but they are normalizing this violence. It’s got to stop.”
