WASHINGTON, Sept 19, (AP): For the second time in more than two months, the Secret Service that protects the highest echelon of American leaders is under scrutiny - this time after a gunman hid in the shrubs along the fence of former President Donald Trump's golf course for 12 hours. The man didn't get a shot off, but critics question how he could be just several hundred yards away from Trump - especially after the Republican presidential candidate's security was beefed up after his near-death experience in July.

Biden administration officials praised the agency's response, and former Secret Service agents say there are key differences between what unfolded Sunday and the security lapses at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman climbed onto an unsecured roof nearby and opened fire, clipping Trump’s ear and leaving a spectator dead.

Authorities say Ryan Wesley Routh camped with food and a rifle just outside the 27-hole Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the former president was playing Sunday. A Secret Service agent ahead of Trump spotted the rifle's muzzle poking through the fence and opened fire. Routh fled and was later apprehended. It's long been known to law enforcement that places along the edge of the property leave Trump visible to those behind the fence, and some have questioned why it was not protecte

. But a sprawling golf course poses specific challenges, especially for a last-minute round, even with Trump's bolstered security, former Secret Service agents say. "A 400-acre golf course with miles of fence line is breachable. And the systems put in place to mitigate those threats worked. That’s not to say they couldn’t do more. But there are limits to what is possible,” said Paul Eckloff, a retired Secret Service agent who served on details protecting three presidents during his 23-year career. The Secret Service is trying to protect a growing number of high-profile people, from presidents to visiting dignitaries, in a vitriolic political environment.