5 things to know about Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in 2nd Trump assassination attempt

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, September 16, 2024

2. Ryan Routh has a long criminal record and made his neighbors afraid

Ryan Routh has an extensive criminal record in North Carolina, where he lived in the Greensboro area before moving to Hawaii in May, his former neighbors told Fox 8. In 2002, records show he barricaded himself inside a business with a gun in Greensboro. The following year, he was sentenced for driving without a license, carrying a concealed weapon, and hit and run. He was convicted of possessing stolen goods in 2010.

One neighbor who asked not to be identified told Fox 8 that even though he made her afraid and was unusual, she never thought he would have done something like try to assassinate the former president.

“Him, I mean, trying to shoot Trump? That’s a lot. I would have never guessed, and I would have sworn up and down, no, that’s not him,” she said. “… I just can’t believe it. I mean, if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I mean, the pictures and stuff and all, then I wouldn’t be able to believe that.”

She wasn’t, however, surprised about the kind of gun he had.

“I’ve seen the guns myself and all, and, yeah, they had a lot of guns and stuff over there. And, yeah, a lot of people were afraid of him back in the day,” she said.