A new Secret Service agent recruit shot and killed his 16-year-old half-brother and may have been responsible for another bullet grazing a woman’s face on New Year’s Eve. The suspect is claiming self-defense while Florida police investigate.

The shooting comes at a difficult time for the Secret Service, which has struggled with manpower issues and low morale for more than a decade. Recruiting and retention took further hits after the two assassination attempts against President Trump in 2024, when many senior agents who had hit retirement age left the agency amid harsh criticism from the public and Congress over the myriad failures in both attempts on Trump’s life.

The agency has recently touted improvements in its recruiting efforts after offering $40,000-$60,000 of dollars in recruiting bonuses, but has not responded to repeated RealClearPolitics inquiries about its retention rates. Earlier this week, Secret Service Director Sean Curran met with United Marine Corps Sergeant Major Carlos Ruiz to collaborate on ways Marines could continue service to their country after leaving the military.

This week, the Secret Service announced plans to hire 4,000 employees over the next two years and cut its hiring timelines in half. But long-time observers warned that speeding up the hiring process would undoubtedly result in less training and the hiring of less qualified individuals.

Until the investigation into the killing concludes, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the suspect’s name. RealClearPolitics is withholding the suspects’ and victims’ names until the Broward County State Attorney’s Office determines whether to file criminal charges.

Florida has a robust “stand-your-ground” law, which allows individuals to use reasonable, even deadly,........

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