The son of Ryan Wesley Routh, the man named as a suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump’s golf club in Florida on Sunday, said his father is not a violent person and he did not even believe he had a gun.
Wesley’s son, Oran Routh, contacted by DailyMail.com shortly after Sunday’s shooting, said it was the first he had heard of the alleged attempted murder.
“It was the first time I heard about it,” the 35-year-old told DailyMail.com exclusively. “Was my father shot or injured?”
He said his father, like him, hates Trump, as “every reasonable person” does. “I don’t like Trump either.”
But he said his father is not a violent person and he could not believe his father would attack the president.
The son of Ryan Wesley Routh, pictured, the man named as a suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump’s golf club in Florida, said his father is not violent.
An image shared by law enforcement reveals a backpack, a purse, a GoPro camera and a scoped AK-47 rifle that a suspected assassin had placed outside Donald Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach on Sunday.
“He’s my father and as far as I know, all he’s ever had is a couple of traffic tickets,” the son said. “It’s crazy. I know my father and I love him, but he has nothing to do with it.”
The former president was rushed to safety Sunday after several shots were fired near him while he was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach.
Routh said his father had moved to Hawaii a few years ago and was living with his longtime girlfriend. He said he didn’t even know his father was in Florida.
“He said he was at the beach, but I thought he meant the Outer Banks of Hawaii,” she said. “I didn’t ask him for more information because we had grown apart. We had grown apart.”
He did not explain the nature of their “fight,” but still spoke highly of his father.
“He’s not a violent person,” she said. “He’s a hard worker and a great father. He’s a great guy, a good kid and he’s worked his whole damn life.”
Several shots were fired near Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. A police scene has now been set up outside the club.
Asked if his father owned a gun, he replied, “Not that I know of.”
“I never knew he had a gun or did something as absurd as this,” the son added.
He said his father works as a general contractor, building small homes in Hawaii and previously owned a roofing company.
He abruptly ended the call, saying he needed to ask what had really happened.
The suspect fled into the trees but was spotted by a witness who took a photograph of his vehicle, a black Nissan, including the license plate, before driving away.
Trump confirmed in a statement about an hour after the shooting was reported that he is “safe and well” and that he did not want rumors to “start to get out of hand.”
The suspect managed to get within 400 to 500 yards of Trump.
The Republican 2024 nominee’s beefed-up Secret Service advance team spotted the shooter in the tree line, just two holes from where Trump was playing golf.
Special Agent Rafael Barros explained at Sunday’s news conference that the Secret Service moves alongside Trump and typically inspects one or two holes ahead of him when he goes out to play a round of golf.
The FBI released a statement two hours after the incident saying the attack “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
Police search the tree line and brush outside Trump International Golf Club, where the gunman was hiding and where he left his belongings when he fled the scene.
Palm Beach Sheriff’s Department vehicles were stationed outside Trump International Golf Club on Sunday after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of where the former president was playing golf.
A bullet hit Donald Trump’s right ear during an assassination attempt just two months ago, on July 13, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The armed suspect was positioned outside the club around holes 5 and 6, which was confirmed to be a more “vulnerable” area of the course because it is the closest to the road.
The area where the suspect was first spotted by his security team was two holes in front of where Trump was golfing at the time of the shooting, prompting the individual to flee.
The incident comes as Trump’s security detail has been beefed up in the two months since the former president was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Trump’s golf club is just five miles from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach and is where the former president is often seen golfing when not on the campaign trail.
The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Department held a news conference Sunday afternoon to provide updates on the shooting and released images of the suspect’s backpack, GoPro camera and AK-47 rifle left at the scene.