Leslie Coffelt
| Leslie William "Les" Coffelt | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
August 15, 1910 Oranda, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | November 1, 1950 (aged 40) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place |
Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C. 38°52′48″N 77°04′12″W / 38.880000°N 77.070000°W |
| Relatives | Cressie Elinor Coffelt (née Morgan, wife) Cora Jane Miller (stepdaughter) |
| Police career | |
| Department |
.png){kind=small} D.C. Metropolitan Police Departmentand White House Police Force |
| Country |
 United States of America
|
| Allegiance |
 District of Columbia
|
| Years of service | 1929–1936, 1941–1950 |
| Rank | Officer |
| Murder of Leslie Coffelt | |
|---|---|
| Part of Truman assassination attempt | |
| Location |
Blair House 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′56″N 77°2′19″W / 38.89889°N 77.03861°W |
| Date | November 1, 1950 2:20 p.m. (EST) |
| Target | President Harry S. Truman |
|
Attack type
|
Shooting |
| Weapons | Walther P38, Luger pistol |
| Deaths | Two: Leslie Coffelt, Griselio Torresola |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
Three: Donald Birdzell, Oscar Collazo, Joseph Downs |
| Perpetrators | Oscar Collazo, Griselio Torresola |
| Motive | Political status of Puerto Rico |
 Newsreel scenes in English of the assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S Truman on YouTube
|
Leslie William "Les" Coffelt (August 15, 1910 – November 1, 1950) was an officer of the White House Police, who was killed while defending U.S. President Harry S. Truman against an armed attack on November 1, 1950 at Blair House, where the president was living during renovations at the White House.
Coffelt was wounded during the assassination attempt, which two Puerto Rican nationalists carried out. Though mortally wounded by three bullets, Coffelt returned fire moments later and killed one of the attackers with a single shot to the head. The other was convicted by a federal jury and sentenced to death; Truman commuted the sentence to life imprisonment and the man was released from jail in 1979.
Acknowledging the importance of the question of Puerto Rico's status, Truman authorized a referendum in Puerto Rico in 1952 to determine its relationship to the U.S. The people voted to continue as a U.S. Commonwealth, as established in 1950.
Leslie Coffelt was born to Will Coffelt and Effie Keller in the Shenandoah Valley town of Oranda, Virginia. As a boy, his younger sister called him "Etts" because she could not pronounce the name "Leslie." His siblings were Harry, Hollis, Norman, and Mildred, called "Midge".
As a boy, Coffelt grew up hunting and handling firearms. Coffelt was the second in his family to graduate from high school, and he was described by those who knew him as an expert sharpshooter. He grew up to be a quiet, good-humored man who was well liked.
Coffelt met and fell in love with Chessie Elinor Morgan of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, who was training to become a nurse. Coffelt and Morgan were married on October 5, 1937, in Prince George's County, Maryland. They moved into an apartment in Washington.
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Wikipedia