The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-03-07
PERU PRESIDENT
is WOUNDED BY
POLITICAL FOE
Revolver Duel Is Fought in
Aisle of. Fashionable
Lima Church.
BY RICARDO LEON
United Press STAFF CORRESPONDENT

LIMA, Peru, March Luis M.
Sanchez Cero, diminutive Peruvian
president bearing a score of wounds
inflicted during his turbulent career,
was recovering today from another
attempt to assassinate him, at the
fashionable Miraf1ores church.
While society women screamed
and ran for the church exists, aids
of the president stood in the middle
aisle and engaged in a close range
revolver battle with the would-be
assassin.
Sanchez Cerro was wounded in
the chest, but not seriously hurt;
one of his aids was taken to a hos
pital IN serious condition.
The presidents asSailant was
wounded. Two women, a child and
a servant were struck by revslver
bullets.
The presidents assailant, a tall,
pale youth identified as Jose Melgar,
member of the Aprista (opposition)
party, attended mass at the church
neatly dressed in blue coat and
white trousers.
Fires at Close Range
At the end of the service, when
the President and his party were
leaving, the youth stepped up to
Sanchez Cerro and fired a pistol at
him from close range.
Sanchez Cerro fell back against
his companions, clutching his left
side where the bullet had pene-
trated.
The tall youth aimed and fired
again. The bullet struck Colonel
Antonio Rodriguez chief of the
military household, who leaped in
front of the president to shield
him. Rodriguez fell to the floor,
badly wounded.
Sanchez Cerro had drawn his own
revolver and sprang forward. He
did not fire, however, apparently
because of the danger to the church
congregation.
The would-be assassin stood in
the same position in the church
aisle and fired for the third time.
Women Screamed Wildly
While the president appeared to
be attempting to reach position
where he could fire without endan-
gering the women and children IN
the church, Luis Solari, a presidep-
tial aid, fired point blank at the
young attacker.
Blood spurted from Melgar's neck.
Women screamed wildly. Some
rushed toward the doors. Others
sought cover behind the church
benches.
Melgar clasped his hand against
his neck, trying to stop the flow OF
blood. He stood his ground and
fired at the president until his gun
was empty.
Then he turned and ran, pursued
by Solari and a police officer. He
attempted to climb over an iron
fence outside the church, but was
pulled down and captured.
Wounded 20 Times
Sanchez Cerro did not shoot. He
walked from the church with huge
stain across his chest. The presi-
dent said he required no assistance
but asked his aids to rush Rodriguez
to a hospital.
Prior to the attack on him at the
church, Sanchez Cerro had been
wounded some twenty times by bull
let's.
His boldest revolutionary feat
was single handed attack on the
presidential palace guarded by ma
chine gunnerS.
Three fingers were shot off zone
hand in the engagement when he
led a small band against the police
to overthrow President Guillermo
Billinghurst in 1914.
Has CoIOrful Career
Sanchez Cerro walked up to the
entrance alone, pushed aside a COW
ering to peep hole, and reached
inside and unlocked the door de-
spite machine gun fire that shot
three fingers off his hand.
He then returned to his troops
and led a successful attack on the
palace.
Sanchez Cerro spent fourteen
months fighting with the French in
Morocco and was military attache
at the legation in Washington dur
ing bis varied career. He is ~ years
old