The man accused of the second alleged assassination attempt on former President Trump was "poised" and composed when law enforcement officers closed in on him, signaling that he knew "the gig was up," the Florida sheriff who arrested him revealed.
In an interview on "America Reports" Monday, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder praised law enforcement and credited a civilian bystander for turning over a photograph of the Black Nissan that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh used to flee.
Minutes earlier, Secret Service agents had fired shots in Routh's direction when they spotted him poking a rifle through the fence around Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., where the former president was playing a round of golf.
"The coordination between the Palm Beach County's sheriff's office which gave us the information and my road patrol deputies was flawless," Snyder said. "Had it not been for a civilian witness who did the right thing, gave us a description and a picture of it, actually, and had the Palm Beach sheriff’s office not been so good about getting that information out, that guy would’ve gotten past us and who knows what would’ve happened next."
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Snyder described a "very tense" few minutes before authorities were able to track down the purported would-be assassin. Despite the 30 rifles drawn at him and helicopters overhead, Routh appeared oddly unbothered when law enforcement closed in, Snyder recalled.
"Right after the stop, what I saw was someone who was very poised, very in control of himself. Even though we had armed deputies all over the place, probably 30 deputies out there, rifles, a helicopter overhead, both north and southbound on I-95 shut down. He’s in the middle of it all, he never asked 'Hey, what’s this about? When I saw that, I realized he knew what time it was," Snyder said.
"He knew that the gig was up, and he was caught."
At the time, Snyder said he was initially informed that shots had been fired but was not updated that the shots had been fired by Secret Service agents.
"We operated on that potential and that information and made them stop thinking we were encountering an armed assassin of the former president," he said.
"We were aware that we were making probably what would be the highest profile stop maybe in the history of this sheriff's office," he added. "We did have the BOLO from the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office. We did know the vehicle description, the tag…we knew they were northbound on I-95. We pulled onto the interstate and one of my patrol deputies picked that vehicle out of the traffic, called out the location, surrounded it with heavy-duty trucks, forced it off the road, then at gunpoint got the suspect out of the vehicle and safely in custody."
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Authorities said Routh had two backpacks, bullet-deflecting ceramic plates and a GoPro camera when he was detained. His rifle was also recovered by authorities.
Bodycam footage that was released Monday afternoon showed the moment deputies arrested Routh. The video shows deputies ordering the driver to slowly walk backwards with his hands on his head toward deputies after surrendering.
Routh appeared for a federal court hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday morning, where he was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Fox News is told additional federal charges are possible. The initial charges announced Monday will keep Routh in custody.
Fox News' Stephen Sorance and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
