The Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump is “safe and unharmed” after US Secret Service agents opened fire when they spotted a person with a firearm at the Trump international golf course west of Palm Beach, where the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort home is located. Law enforcement officials said the gunman was in some bushes near the property line of the golf course when Secret Service agents, who were clearing holes ahead of where Trump was playing, spotted a rifle barrel in the bushes.

Agents engaged the gunman and fired at least four rounds of ammunition about 1.30pm local time. The gunman then dropped his rifle, two backpacks and other items and fled in a black Nissan car. A witness, the sheriff said, saw the gunman and managed to take photos of his car and license plate. In a press conference, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a male suspect had been detained by authorities. According to Bradshaw, the suspect was relatively calm. The gunman was spotted about 300 to 500 yards from where Trump was playing, Secret Service officials said.

The FBI called the incident “what appears to be an attempted assassination of the former president”. The FBI and other law enforcement officials said the suspect had a scope on an AK47 rifle, and a GoPro camera with which he apparently intended to record footage and two backpacks with ceramic tiles in it.

The suspect who was arrested was named as Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told the Associated Press. Fox news and CNN also reported the same name, citing law enforcement sources. Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect. The Guardian has not confirmed this independently.

In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”. He added, “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”. Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on 13 July.

The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the incident and were relieved to know that Trump is safe. “Violence has no place in America,” Harris said in a social media post. Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz issued a statement, posting on X: “Gwen and I are glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe. Violence has no place in our country. It’s not who we are as a nation.”

Trump’s running mate in the presidential election, US senator JD Vance, said he spoke to Trump after the shooting and that the former president was in good spirits. The South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s top congressional allies, said he had spoken with the former president after the incident and that Trump was in “good spirits” and was “one of the strongest people I’ve ever known”.