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Gunman opens fire at Trump golf resort

May 18, 2018

Police in Florida have arrested a man at the Trump National Doral Golf Club, after he was reported to have opened fire in the lobby. Witnesses said the suspect had been shouting anti-Trump rhetoric.

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USA Florida - Police at the Trumps National Doral Resort
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Frisaro

Police traded shots with a gunman at the Trump National Doral Golf Club near Miami before apprehending a suspect whom they identified as a 42-year-old local man.

Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said the gunman appeared to have been trying to lure officers in to ambush them by firing shots at chandeliers on the hotel lobby ceiling. The gunman was also reported to have pointed the gun at people in the hotel building.

"We don't know what his intentions were - his long-term intentions - but we know what he was trying to do," Perez said, adding that, while the suspect "did succeed" in drawing police in, "he did lose."

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Perez said the man had had torn down an American flag from a flagpole outside, which he draped over the lobby counter.

Suspect shouted slogans

The suspect "began to yell out anti-Trump, President Trump, rhetoric," Perez said. "The exact words I don't know, but that's what we know so far."

"These officers did not hesitate one second to engage this individual that was actively shooting in the lobby of the hotel," the police director added. "They risked their lives knowing that that they had to get in there to save lives in that hotel."

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The suspect, who was injured in the exchange, was shown later being wheeled into hospital. 

Perez said the FBI was on the way, but that local police were in charge for the time being.

The Secret Service said agents from its Miami Field Office were at the scene and working closely with other agencies.

The golf resort, which was previously known as the Doral Resort & Spa, was purchased by the Trump Organization in 2012. The signature course is known as the Blue Monster.