LESLIE WILLIAM COFFELT

Order a Wreath

Rank: Officer
Panel: 23-W: 1
Department: U.S. Secret Service
End of Watch: November 1, 1950
Cause: Gunfire
Age: 40
Years of Service: 9

Description: Officer Coffelt was fatally shot during an aborted assassination attempt against President Harry Truman at Blair House in Washington, DC. Officer Coffelt returned fire, killing his assailant. Officers Donald Birdzell and Joseph Downs were wounded in this incident. The second suspect was found guilty of murder and served 29 years in prison. This incident prompted Congress to enact legislation that permanently authorized Secret Service protection of the President, his immediate family and the Vice President.