FBI agents and sheriff’s deputies responded to nearby businesses Trump International Golf Club to capture surveillance video within two hours of a Secret Service agent shooting in Florida a suspected assassinaccording to interviews with business owners.
Authorities say Ryan Wesley Routh lay ambushed by former President Donald Trump with a semi-automatic rifle on a West Palm Beach golf course on Sunday.
The FBI called the incident an apparent attempted murder, and Routh is accused of possessing a firearm and erasing the serial number of his gun. He remains in custody, according to court documents.
Businesses near the course and their owners did not want to be named, citing privacy reasons.
In the nearly two hours after the shooting, the FBI visited a business and law enforcement officers seized a surveillance video hard drive containing footage of Routh driving across the Trump golf course, a store employee said.
The Secret Service’s alleged engagement with Routh was around 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, and the company said FBI special agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy visited the business at or shortly before 3:30 p.m. ET.
Another business owner visited by the FBI said their business may have surveillance video of Routh leaving the scene, and that business owner says the FBI copied the file containing the video.
When an NBC News reporter visited the business a second time to obtain the video, the business owner says the FBI deleted the file from his machine.
A third company said agents visited them for surveillance video after the shooting.
Law enforcement experts say the FBI is likely trying to build a timeline to determine what Routh was doing before and after the shooting.
Video and witness interviews can sometimes be used to develop additional information, such as who Rout talked to or what he talked about, all of which could be helpful to investigators trying to determine a motive, experts said.
A spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment to NBC News, citing the FBI. A spokesman for the investigating FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their case.
Federal charging documents allege, based on cellphone analysis, that Routh arrived at the golf course at 1:59 a.m. the day he was allegedly seen near the course with a gun.
What is not publicly known is how Routh parked his car before the Secret Service shooting or how he got to I-95 North after the shooting.
The FBI typically obtains physical electronic media during an ongoing investigation to preserve device metadata for use in court testimony, based on NBC News’ analysis of previous national security cases.
Routh’s next hearing is scheduled for September 23, which will determine whether he will be released pending his federal trial. He has not yet been asked to file a claim.