top of page
Search

De Gaulle Survives Assassination Attempt

Aug. 22, 1962 - President de Gaulle emerged unscathed tonight from a hail of submachine-gun bullets fired at his car (pictured) in a Paris suburb. Slugs fired from two parked vehicles shattered the rear window of the President’s car and hit its puncture-proof tires. A passing motorist was slightly wounded, and two bullets ripped through the helmet of a motorcycle policeman in the Presidential escort without touching his head. Mme. de Gaulle, riding with the President, was unhurt. Roger Frey, Minister of the Interior, estimated at a news conference that 10 men had participated in the attempt and that a bullet had missed General de Gaulle’s head by two inches. This second assassination attempt against the President occurred near Villacoublay Airport, nine miles southwest of Paris. The prevailing impression was that the assassins were connected with the Right-wing Secret Army (OAS). According to the newspaper L’Aurore, the President’s comment to the commandant of the airport was: “These people really aim very badly.”

bottom of page