Weapons & Guns

Ryan Wesley Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course, once exposed himself to a woman who hired him to do construction on her home ... TMZ has learned.

We obtained a photo of a shirtless Ryan with his penis poking out of his fly ... and the woman who took the photo says she snapped it in December 2020, when he was building a loft at her home in Hawaii.

The woman tells TMZ ... she found Ryan on Facebook and paid him $4,000 for a 4-day home construction job ... only to find out he was a "bit of a pervert," as she described him.

The semiautomatic rifle the Secret Service says they spotted scoping out Donald Trump on a golf course has been taken away as evidence ... and the weapon looks big and powerful.

New photos show police carrying the gun away from Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach in an evidence box Sunday ... and loading it into the back of a Palm Beach County Sheriff's crime scene van.

Law enforcement says the weapon, an SKS-style rifle with a scope, was loaded when it was recovered ... and the gun's serial number was "obliterated and unreadable."

Body cam footage of Ryan Wesley Routh's arrest has surfaced in the aftermath of the suspect's alleged attempt on Donald Trump's life.

Watch the video ... Martin County Sheriff's deputies are seen shouting orders at the alleged would-be shooter after he was pulled over on a Florida highway Sunday.

As Routh comes into frame, he is seen walking backward while holding his shirt high above his head ... proving he had no concealed weapons on his person after allegedly attempting to assassinate the former prez on a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

9:30 AM PT -- The U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida released an affidavit ... in which an FBI agent claims Routh’s public Facebook post from July 10 urged followers to contact him via WhatsApp and points out records apparently placing the phone near the golf course from 1:59 AM to 1:31 PM on September 15 ... suggesting he was scouting the area before the attempted assassination.

The affidavit also notes Routh was seen fleeing in a Nissan SUV, which was later stopped by police. Routh was the sole occupant and acknowledged knowing why he was pulled over, according to authorities.

The Nissan’s license plate was apparently registered to a stolen Ford truck, and the agent says a witness near the golf course identified Routh at the vehicle stop as the person they had seen fleeing the scene.

Ryan Wesley Routh, the man suspected of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course Sunday, made his first appearance in Florida court Monday morning.

Routh was charged with 2 counts -- possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Routh will be back in court Monday, Sept. 23, for a formal detention hearing, and is set to be arraigned on Sept. 30.

The son of the man suspected of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump says his father hates the former president ... but is shocked, because his dad isn't a violent person.

Ryan Wesley Routh's son, Oran, spoke with the Daily Mail ... saying his father hates Trump like "every reasonable person does." Like father, like son -- Oran also isn't a fan of the former prez, but was floored to find out his dad is the gunman who allegedly targeted Trump at one of Trump's Florida golf clubs Sunday.

Oran says as far as he knows, his father's run-ins with the law only include a couple of traffic tickets ... but there's more to the suspect's record.

President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to load up the Secret Service with more resources ... indicating he thinks the protection agency is currently spread too thin to be fully effective.

The president spoke with reporters outside the White House Monday, where he gave his blunt assessment of the Secret Service after former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump faced his 2nd assassination attempt this year.

When asked about the status of a full report into the incident, 46 said he is relieved to know Trump is okay ... and thinks the Secret Service is not up to standard in its current operations.

The suspect who allegedly brought a gun to Trump International Golf Course in what the FBI says appears to be another attempt on Donald Trump's life in West Palm Beach has been revealed ... with sources confirming his identity to TMZ.

According to law enforcement sources, the individual they say brought an AK-47-style weapon to the course is Ryan Wesley Routh -- a 58-year-old man from Hawaii.

Routh's social media is full of pro-Ukraine posts ... and, there's a YouTube video of Routh talking about why he left the U.S. to go to Kyiv to help fight back against the Russians.

Marjorie Taylor Green's not buying any lone shooter theories when it comes to Donald Trump ... claiming there's a whole conspiracy to kill the former prez.

The congresswoman posted just minutes ago about the shocking shooting ... reiterating information from officials who say the suspected shooter had a GoPro to film the alleged assassination attempt.

She points out this comes just two months after Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to kill Trump ... using the multiple attempts as proof there's a whole group of people working to kill the Republican candidate for prez.

Donald Trump wasn't that far from being fired upon ... with officials saying he was about 300-500 yards away from the suspect when Secret Service engaged the would-be shooter.

The Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw just spoke publicly about the shots fired near Trump International Golf Course West Palm Beach around 2 PM ET this afternoon.

Bradshaw says a Secret Service agent spotted an AK-47-style rifle barrel sticking through the fence, ready for the former president to arrive at one hole, and the suspect had a GoPro to film the whole thing.

1:51 PM PT -- The FBI has just released a statement to multiple news outlets, saying they are "investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump."

1:27 PM PT -- Donald Trump has just put out his own statement in a fundraising email ... telling people he's fine -- but, there are always people in this world who want to stop you, implying that he was fired upon.

1:26 PM PT -- A photo of the alleged SUV is circulating online ... showing the smashed up vehicle on the side of the road surrounded by police vehicles.

1:20 PM PT -- Sheriff William D. Snyder of Martin County has just confirmed his officers have apprehended the driver of the vehicle, and he is in custody. He says the investigation will now be handled by the FBI and Secret Service.

1:14 PM PT -- TMZ has confirmed U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the Republican presidential candidate was golfing Sunday. No injuries were reported. The person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended in a nearby county by local law enforcement, the officials said.

1:02 PM PT -- CNN is reporting one person has been detained after the shooting.

12:50 PM PT -- Fox News' Sean Hannity has just given a recap of events ... saying he's spoken with Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff -- one of the people golfing with Trump this morning.

Hannity says the two of them were on the fifth hole when shots rang out. He says Secret Service returned fire to where they heard the shots. He says Trump and Witkoff told him Secret Service found an AK-47 at the scene and a suspect was identified and chased by local law enforcement -- unclear if they arrested the suspect.

SH says it's still unclear if the shooter was firing on Trump or if the shooter simply fired his weapon near where Trump happened to be golfing.

12:44 PM PT -- Kamala Harris just tweeted about the shooting ... saying she's glad the former president is safe and adding gun violence has no place in the U.S.A.

12:37 PM PT -- Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been informed of the shooting, according to the Daily Mail which cites a White House statement.

Donald Trump's safe after his campaign says gunshots were fired near him ... marking this the second shooting scare of the summer for the Republican candidate.

The former POTUS' campaign team put out a statement just minutes ago ... assuring people 45 is safe after gunshots popped off "in his vicinity."

His communications director, Steven Cheung, adds the campaign has no further details at this time.

Miguel Angel Aguilar -- an influencer with a link to the Kardashians -- was rushed to the hospital Friday after he was shot in the face during an alleged attempted robbery.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Miguel was allegedly followed to his Los Angeles area home by a group of four men yesterday afternoon -- who approached him, armed with guns, when he got out of the car.

We're told some sort of scuffle ensued -- with sources saying the men tried to take Aguilar's Rolex -- which is when he was shot in the face.

A pro-Israel demonstration outside Boston reportedly turned violent Thursday when a man wearing a pro-Palestine pin was shot after tackling a demonstrator on the sidewalk.

In a video purportedly from the scene first reported by Daily Wire ... you see a man with a mask around his neck shouting at a group of pro-Israel demonstrators, which reportedly included 47-year-old Scott Hayes, an Iraq War veteran.

The unidentified man is heard accosting the demonstrators, whom he called "sick" for "defending genocide" -- before running across the street and physically tackling Hayes.

One of 4 suspects charged in the Johnny Wactor murder case has pled guilty to attempted robbery and grand theft charges.

Leonel Gutierrez, 18, is free on bond while he awaits sentencing in November ... and faces up to 5 years in prison.

The "General Hospital" actor was shot and killed back in May after leaving his job as a bartender in downtown L.A. Prosecutors say he was shot by one of the suspects, Robert Barceleau, in the chest after confronting a group of men allegedly trying to steal the catalytic converter from his car.

An officer fired at an armed man who cops say was trying to carjack a woman at a Walmart drive-thru ... and the dramatic scene was captured on body cam footage released by Kentucky's Louisville Metro Police.

In the clip captured August 28, you can see the female driver manages to escape her car as the suspect Randall Allen makes his way into the passenger seat ... where cops are heard issuing multiple commands for Allen to get out.

Allen is heard saying he can’t move his hand ... but the cops eventually fire through the windshield, hitting him multiple times before pulling him out of the car. Cops say he had a gun in his pants and report a second gun was found inside the car.

Melania Trump says the silence around Thomas Matthew Crooks' attempt on her husband Donald Trump's life feels "heavy" ... and she's questioning the circumstances.

In a new X video Tuesday, the former First Lady says her husband's near-death ordeal in July was distressing ... and she’s puzzled why cops didn’t arrest the shooter before Donald’s rally speech, where Crooks nicked his ear with a bullet.

Melania says there's more to the story, and she wants to "uncover the truth" in the brief video ... which promotes her new memoir, "Melania."

The family of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray is calling out bullying at the hands of the suspect's father, Colin Gray.

A relative of Colt's mother said the Gray patriarch felt his 14-year-old was too "tender" and began calling him names -- "sissy" and "bitch" -- to underscore his disdain ... this according to the NY Post.

The relative claims Colin bought his son an AR-15 style rifle for XMAS to "toughen him up." The rifle is the weapon Colt allegedly used when he shot up his high school, leaving 4 dead and 9 injured.