Early Sunday morning, the U.S. Secret Service shot and killed a man in his twenties after he breached the secure perimeter at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida. The incident occurred around 1:30 AM, and according to officials, the man was observed near the north gate of the property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can.
No Secret Service protectees were present at the time.
Dan Bongino, the former FBI deputy director, appeared on Fox & Friends Weekend Sunday morning to break down what happened.
"Breaching the property, if what we have from the early reports is accurate, and we have no reason to believe otherwise, with a gas can and a shotgun, it appears the intent seems built in," Bongino told host Charlie Hurt.
Mar-a-Lago is no ordinary location to stumble into. Bongino, who knows the property well, pointed out that serious security upgrades have already been made — particularly on the north side, where the incident occurred. "That side of the property, the north side of the property over there, they've made a number of significant security enhancements," he said, adding that significant money has been poured into technology and physical security at the site.
Bongino noted that in the end, it was a human being who made the call. "Ultimately, in the end, you know, there was an interdiction here by a human being, and they're gonna be the ones who are obviously the decision makers," Bongino said. Under the law, that decision requires a specific threshold. "In order to enact any kind of deadly force, which happened in this case, you have to have a fear of serious physical injury or death. It appears the agent or officer who was involved thought that to be the case." He didn't leave much ambiguity about why: "The early reporting of a weapon seems to indicate the obvious reason why."
That said, it’s also worth noting here is that this was a team effort. Bongino pushed back on the Hollywood image of lone Secret Service agents with earpieces as the only line of defense. "It's not just Secret Service agents. You see that in these movies, it's always the Secret Service agents with the earpiece, but we rely heavily on the fantastic work of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and others." Indeed, the official Secret Service statement confirmed that a Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy was also involved in the shooting.
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Bongino walked viewers through the procedural mechanics of what will happen next. The FBI, per a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Secret Service, will take over the crime scene — a safeguard designed to prevent any appearance of self-investigation. "If there was some kind of security lapse that required an investigation later, you wouldn't want the Secret Service investigating themselves," he explained. "So we'll generally take over the crime scene, and there's usually a smooth transition."
The Secret Service confirmed in its statement that the involved agents have been placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation — standard protocol. The FBI, Secret Service, and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office are all jointly investigating the incident, including the man's background, potential motive, and the use of force.
🚨 Dan Bongino just broke it down on the armed intruder SHOT DEAD at Mar-a-Lago:
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) February 22, 2026
“That’s not the kind of area where you can just roam around… you would stick out like a sore thumb… It is not that easy to get in there.”
pic.twitter.com/oDhWpMv73A
Bongino said questions remain about how exactly the suspect got as close as he did. The north side of the property isn't easy terrain to breach undetected. "Was there a backpack involved? Was there some security footage, some security cameras that may have been following this guy sooner?" he asked. "That's the kind of stuff we're gonna find out as the fact pattern starts to emerge."
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