Though mortally wounded by three bullets, Coffelt returned fire moments later and killed one of the attackers with a single shot to the head.

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.[1] Leslie Coffelt was born to Will Coffelt and Effie Keller in the Shenandoah Valley town of Oranda, Virginia.

That year, as the U.S. entered World War II, Coffelt was drafted and assigned to B Company, 300th Infantry Regiment, United States Army.

Torresola approached from the west side while Collazo engaged Secret Service agents and White House policemen from the east.

Torresola approached the guard booth at the west corner of the Blair House and fired at Coffelt from close range.

Torresola shot two other policemen before running out of ammunition, then moved to the left of the Blair House steps to reload.

He was survived by his wife, Cressie Elinor Coffelt (née Morgan), and stepdaughter, Cora Jane Wilson.

[7] President Truman wrote in a letter a short time later: I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you and (cousin) Nellie at the dinner or after it.

– Letter from Truman to his cousin, Ethel Noland, dated November 17, 1950[8] Coffelt's widow, Cressie E. Coffelt, was later asked by the President and the Secretary of State to go to Puerto Rico, to accept the condolences and expressions of sorrow for her husband's death from various Puerto Rican leaders and crowds.

His epitaph reads, "White House Policeman: Who Gave His Life in Defense of the President of the United States During an Assassination Attempt at the Blair House, Washington, D.C." To this day, Coffelt is one of only four Secret Service members to take a bullet while defending the President, the others being Donald Birdzell and Joseph Downs, who were wounded during the same incident, and Tim McCarthy, who was wounded in the abdomen by John Hinckley Jr. during the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter commuted Collazo's sentence to time served and granted him release from prison.