UPDATE: South Ocean Boulevard has reopened to traffic, Palm Beach officials said.
EARLIER STORY: The coastal road next to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home is closed after law-enforcement officers shot and killed a man who officials said had entered the property carrying a shotgun and gas can early in the morning on Sunday, Feb. 22.
South Ocean Boulevard is closed between Southern Boulevard and South County Road the morning Feb. 22, Palm Beach officials said in an alert sent at 4:57 a.m. Trump was not in Palm Beach for the weekend.
The man in his early 20s was just inside of Mar-a-Lago’s north gate about 1:30 a.m. when U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy confronted him, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a news conference.
Officers ordered the man to drop the shotgun and gas can, Bradshaw said. The man put down the can and then pointed the shotgun at the officers, Bradshaw said.
“They fired their weapons and neutralized the threat,” the sheriff said said.
The man’s name was not immediately released because officials were trying to reach his next of kin, Anthony Guglielmi, communications chief for the Secret Service, said in a post on X.
Trump remained in Washington, D.C., where he held a breakfast for governors on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the White House. No other people who are protected by the Secret Service were at Mar-a-Lago, Guglielmi said on X.
The FBI is leading the investigation and the Secret Service and PBSO are assisting, Bradshaw said.
FBI asks for local camera footage
The FBI is asking residents who live in the area around Mar-a-Lago to check any cameras on their properties and share that footage with the agency, Brett Skiles, special agent in charge of the Miami field office, said during the news conference.
Anyone with footage can call 800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or PBSO at 561-688-3400.
Road closures near Mar-a-Lago are not uncommon
South Ocean Boulevard was last closed during the president’s trip to Palm Beach for Presidents Day weekend. Like other road closures when Trump is in residence at Mar-a-Lago, the coastal road was shut down — with checkpoints for drivers — between Southern Boulevard on the south and South County Road on the north.
The road had reopened around 8 a.m. Feb. 16 after being closed Feb. 13 ahead of Trump’s arrival that night for his 21st vist to Palm Beach since taking office for his second term that began Jan. 20, 2025. Trump has traditionally spent Presidents Day weekend at Mar-a-Lago, which he and first lady Melania Trump declared their permanent residence in 2019.
When Trump departs palm beach, bridge-opening times for the three spans that connect Palm Beach to the mainland revert to their usual schedules. Those opening schedules shift when Trump is in town as part of temporary security zones implemented by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The road closure and changes to when bridges open for vessel traffic are among a raft of security measures put into place many times during Trump’s first and second terms in the White House.
During a typical road closure, residents who live within the security zone and other people who are authorized to visit the neighborhood may enter and exit only through the north checkpoint at the intersection of South Ocean Boulevard and South County Road. Only emergency vehicles can travel through the south checkpoint at the Southern Boulevard traffic circle.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This story will be updated.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: UPDATE: Road near Mar-a-Lago now open after man was fatally shot
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
