Greensboro, NC neighbors recall interactions with man charged in 'assassination attempt' of Trump

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that The man detained by Florida authorities in relation to the potential assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump Sunday has ties to North Carolina.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, previously lived in Greensboro. Investigators have since searched that home.

It's unclear at this time when Routh was last living in the state. Neighbor Kim Mungo tells ABC11 that Routh moved to Hawaii about 3-4 years ago.

"It's just crazy to me. He was a good guy, he was sweet. I never would have thought that," said Mungo, upon learning of Routh's suspected involvement in the attempted assassination.

Mungo knew Routh for 18 years and described him as "charismatic." She added his daughter lived on the property after his move to Hawaii but she was no longer staying there. Routh did return to the property since his move, with multiple neighbors sharing they saw him earlier this year.

"He just came back in May to clean the house out," said Mungo.

She said there were guns on the property, and was aware of at least one legal incident Routh was involved in. Mungo shared authorities had not reached out to her.

"(He) tried to get me to watch the house to make sure nobody broke into it," said Mungo.

"I didn't realize he lived two doors down," neighbor Josh Patrick told ABC11. He recalled seeing Routh three times over the past couple years; he said his interactions with Routh were unusual. "I was out walking around midnight; I walked past his place back there. I saw him come out the gate. I saw him slam the gate a couple of times, kind of like for no reason. And he walked next to me just like a few paces away."

Patrick said he also never saw or heard Routh say anything political.

"He always wore his hood on and didn't really say much. Walks really fast, was kind of jumpy," Patrick said. "Just walking past my apartment really quick, like not even in the yard, just like right next to the this right here - this balcony area didn't even say anything to me. He just walked straight into the yard."

According to ABC News, on June 10, 2020, Routh's apparent X profile directed a post at Trump in which he said had supported Trump in 2016 but that Trump had become a "disappointment." The post concluded, "I will be glad when you are gone."

Several X posts in March 2020 referred to support for then-Democratic presidential primary candidates Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard. Posts in January of this year indicated support for former Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. That X account has since been suspended.

Routh's social media presence also included frequent posts about Ukraine. ABC News learned he visited the country six times in 2022 and 2023. He was also rejected from joining the International Legion of the Landforces of AFU, which is a group of fighters from outside of Ukraine volunteering to fight for the country, after failing a psychological check.

Routh has a criminal record with a litany of charges against him between 2001-2010 in North Carolina. The charges include carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, driving with a revoked license, hit and run and possession of stolen goods.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections reports Routh was registered an an unaffiliated voter. He cast a ballot on the Democratic ticket during the primaries earlier this year. In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters can pick which party's primary they wish to participate in. That's possibly a factor into why the state has more voters registered as unaffiliated than either Democrat or Republican.

Authorities are now in the process of gathering more information about Routh's background.

"In this day and age, with all the technology, the license plate readers, facial recognition or image matching, there is no doubt that there will be a pretty good timeline on this individual's movements over the last 24 hours prior to the attack," said Fred Burton, a former counterterrorism agent who previously served in the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service.

Burton discussed other points of interest as the investigation continues.

"The biggest thing to evaluate from a protective intelligence perspective is was the person of record before? And if so, what agencies were aware of him and what was his focus of interest or fixation in former President Trump," said Burton.

What else we know about Ryan Routh

The suspect in what the FBI has called an "attempted assassination" of former President Donald Trump was a booster of a number of causes, ABC News analysis of his apparent social media profiles shows.

As authorities tried to unravel the motive and details of the case, sources said investigators were looking at whether Routh was frustrated with Trump's position on Ukraine. Trump refused to answer when asked if Ukraine should win its war against Russia during the ABC News presidential debate last week.

Authorities recovered an "AK-47-style" rifle with a scope, two backpacks -- one of which had a ceramic tile in it -- and a GoPro from the scene, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The would-be gunman was within 300 to 500 yards of Trump when he was spotted. The former president was unharmed in the incident and it is unclear whether the suspect fired any shots.

Routh's vehicle was stopped by police after a witness reported his license plate number to authorities. He was placed into custody on Sunday afternoon. Authorities expect to file charges relating to the incident in the coming days, sources told ABC News. The suspect's motive remains unknown.

This is the second attempted assassination of Trump. The first happened during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. In that attempt, Trump was shot in the ear,