{"id":11679752,"date":"2026-02-23T16:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/?p=11679752"},"modified":"2026-02-23T16:23:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:23:02","slug":"austin-tucker-martin-shot-mar-a-lago-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11679752\/austin-tucker-martin-shot-mar-a-lago-donald-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Man shot dead on Trump’s Florida estate ‘wouldn’t hurt an ant,’ says cousin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin Tucker Martin, the 21-year-old man who was shot and killed by Secret Service agents after he breached the boundary of U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a>‘s Mar-a-Lago<\/a> estate on Sunday, has been described as a non-political person in a family of avid Trump supporters.<\/p>\n

Martin, from Cameron, N.C., was killed by the Secret Service at the north gate of the president’s South Florida home and appeared to be brandishing a shotgun when he entered the property, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Braeden Fields, a cousin who grew up with Martin, told the Associated Press that the 21-year-old \u2014 who owned a small company called Fresh Sky Illustrations<\/a> that specialized in drawing golf courses, buildings and ancient Roman architecture \u2014 rarely, if ever, talked about politics, seemed afraid of guns, and came from a family of Trump supporters.<\/p>\n

The company’s website described the drawings as intending to combine “the aesthetics of the sunny outdoors, and the old digital aesthetics from the mid 2000s” to “awaken a sense of hope and comfort.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t believe he would do something like this. It\u2019s mind-blowing,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t even hurt an ant. He doesn\u2019t even know how to use a gun,” he continued.<\/p>\n\n

\n\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tView image in full screen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/use>\n\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tThis image provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, shows a weapon and gas can found after a 21-year-old man was shot and killed by authorities after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago.\t\t\t\t<\/span> \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tPalm Beach County Sheriff's Office via AP\t\t\t\t<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n

Guns and hunting are a part of everyday life where Martin and his cousin are from, but whenever they\u2019d go hunting or target shooting, Martin would never pick up a gun, Fields explained, adding that their family is “big Trump supporters,” but that his cousin was \u201creal quiet, never really talked about anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin lived with his mother in a modest home near the town of Cameron. His sister was killed in 2023 in a car accident at the age of 21, and his older brother is in the military.<\/p>\n

For the past three years, Martin was employed as a groundskeeper at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in North Carolina, close to his hometown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tragic. I feel for his family,\u201d Kelly Miller, president of the golf course, said. \u201cIt\u2019s just unfortunate what transpired. It was totally unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to his killing, Martin walked up to Mar-a-Lago’s secure perimeter early Sunday morning and entered on-foot through a gate when it opened for staff exiting, a Secret Service spokesperson said Monday.<\/p>\n

Martin then dropped a jerrycan of gas and aimed a shotgun at two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff\u2019s deputy, who then opened fire \u201cto neutralize the threat,\u201d Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.<\/p>\n\n

\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/use>\n\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tAn aerial shot of Mar-a-Lago.\t\t\t\t<\/span> \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tSource: Google Earth Graphic by: Will Jarrett\t\t\t\t<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n

Trump, who often spends weekends and holidays at the Palm Beach complex, was at the White House at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n

Following Sunday\u2019s incident, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said investigators believe Martin purchased his shotgun on his drive to Florida.<\/p>\n

Authorities said his family had recently reported him missing.<\/p>\n

— With files from the Associated Press<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 21-year-old \u2014 who owned a small company that specialized in drawing golf courses, buildings and ancient Roman architecture \u2014 rarely, if ever, talked about politics.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":190094773,"featured_media":11679888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-02-23T21:23:37Z","apple_news_api_id":"f5f24618-792f-4a29-98b3-840d2497cafd","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-02-23T21:23:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A9fJGGHkvSimYs4QNJJfK_Q","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[546355481,700731453],"tags":[700992954,189091,496347179],"gnca-iab-tag":[700522984,700992958,700526038,700562876,700516616,700516387,700711448,700512628,700513126,700516269,700511652,700519358,700519579,700515078,700581748,700807329,700512034,700516122,700567759,700530084,700511672,700513200,700643112,700527979,700515885,700518892,700992956,700523740,700992957,700518724,700514757,700533589,700517347,700536536,700574899,700511910,700512872,700511974,700514643],"gnca-iab-category":[700511849,700511554,700511557,700511555,700511620],"coauthors":[700950419],"class_list":["post-11679752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","category-us-news","tag-austin-tucker-martin","tag-donald-trump","tag-mar-a-lago","gnca-regions-gnca-national","gnca-iab-tag-aesthetics","gnca-iab-tag-ancient-roman-architecture","gnca-iab-tag-ancient-rome","gnca-iab-tag-ant","gnca-iab-tag-architecture","gnca-iab-tag-associated-press","gnca-iab-tag-birds-eye-view","gnca-iab-tag-car","gnca-iab-tag-donald-trump","gnca-iab-tag-florida","gnca-iab-tag-gas","gnca-iab-tag-golf","gnca-iab-tag-golf-course","gnca-iab-tag-google","gnca-iab-tag-google-earth","gnca-iab-tag-groundskeeping","gnca-iab-tag-hunting","gnca-iab-tag-image","gnca-iab-tag-jerrycan","gnca-iab-tag-mar-a-lago","gnca-iab-tag-mother","gnca-iab-tag-north-carolina","gnca-iab-tag-palm-beach-county-florida","gnca-iab-tag-palm-beach-florida","gnca-iab-tag-perimeter","gnca-iab-tag-pine","gnca-iab-tag-real-quiet","gnca-iab-tag-resort","gnca-iab-tag-ric-bradshaw","gnca-iab-tag-roman-empire","gnca-iab-tag-shooting","gnca-iab-tag-shooting-sports","gnca-iab-tag-shotgun","gnca-iab-tag-south-florida","gnca-iab-tag-trumpism","gnca-iab-tag-united-states","gnca-iab-tag-united-states-secret-service","gnca-iab-tag-weapon","gnca-iab-tag-white-house","gnca-iab-category-crime-and-justice","gnca-iab-category-law-and-government","gnca-iab-category-news","gnca-iab-category-public-safety","gnca-iab-category-sensitive-subjects"],"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11679752\/austin-tucker-martin-shot-mar-a-lago-donald-trump\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/globalnews.ca\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CP175858557.jpg?quality=65&strip=all","openmedia_bucket":"","gnca_regions":["National"],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3728976,"url":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/3728976\/hurricane-irma-donald-trump-mar-a-lago-evacuation\/","url_meta":{"origin":11679752,"position":0},"title":"Hurricane 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