Intruder killed on White House lawn

Press, 27 July 1976, Page 8

Intruder killed on White House lawn

NZPA-Reuter Washington A man carrying a metal pipe was fatally shot on the White House lawn on Sunday by a guard who said the intruder refused to heed orders to halt, according to the United Sates Secret Service. Chester Plummer, aged 30, of Washington, was felled about 60 yards from the Bft fence he had just climbed. He was pronounced dead 90 minutes later at George Washington Hospital of a single wound in the upper left chest. Local policemen said

Plummer was believed to have been a self-employed cab driver. His motive for climbing the White House fence was not known. A homicide detective who spoke to Plummer’s relatives said he had never indicated to them he had any qualms about the President. President Ford, who was in the second-floor family quarters of the White House at the time of the shooting, was informed of the incident, according to a White House spokesman. Plummer was shot by an

Executive Protective Service private, Mr Charles Garland, aged 25, who joined the service last January. The Secret Service and police said Plummer had been brandishing the pipe and had ignored repeated orders to stop before Mr Garland fired one shot. A police spokesman said Mr Garland would be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a routine grand jury investigation. The E.P.S. is the uniformed branch of the Secret Service.