Alleged shooter hid for nearly 12 hours before Secret Service saw him at golf course: prosecutors

The alleged shooter found at former President Donald Trump's golf course by Secret Service agents on Sunday had waited in a sniper's nest for nearly 12 hours, according to federal prosecutors.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, who was arrested Sunday in connection with the attempted assassination of Trump, was charged Monday with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The cellphone of the alleged would-be assassin pinged on the edge of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., starting at 1:59 a.m. on Sunday, per the federal criminal complaint, The New York Post reported.

The Secret Service saw Routh's gun at 1:30 p.m., when he was about 300-500 yards away from Trump. Routh also had a video camera and two backpacks in the sniper's nest.

The loaded SKS-style rifle that Routh had either came from another state, since they are not manufactured in Florida, or another country, prosecutors said.

Secret Service fired at Routh when they saw him, and he fled the scene in a Nissan sport vehicle with stolen license plates that a witness identified.

The federal complaint states that Routh was convicted in Greensboro, N.C., in 2002 for having a weapon of mass death and destruction. In 2010, he was convicted of multiple counts of possession of stolen goods.