GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Multiple outlets are reporting that Sara Jane Moore, who tried to assassinate former President Gerald R. Ford, has died. She was 95 years old.
The Nashville Banner was the first to break the news Wednesday night, reporting that Moore passed away at a nursing home in Franklin, Tenn.. She died two days after the 50th anniversary of her attempt to kill the president.
On Sept. 22, 1975, Ford was in San Francisco to address the World Affairs Council when Moore, who was approximately 50 feet away, pulled out a revolver and fired a shot at Ford. That shot missed. When she went to fire a second time, a bystander — a former Marine named Oliver Sipple — pulled on her arm. That shot also missed the president but ricocheted and grazed another man.
Ford was shoved into a limousine by Secret Service agents and rushed away from the scene while Sipple and two police officers secured Moore.
President Gerald R. Ford waves to people outside of St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco moments before two gunshots were fired toward him by Sara Jane Moore on Sept. 22, 1975. (Getty Images)
Moore’s assassination attempt was just 17 days after Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme’s attempt in Sacramento. Unlike Fromme, who was part of the Manson family cult, Moore was reportedly “radicalized by the revolutionary politics of the day,” according to The Nashville Banner.
Investigators also noted that Moore was arrested a day before she shot at Ford. She was held on a gun charge, and her .44 caliber handgun and ammo were confiscated. Instead, she used a .38 caliber with a faulty sight that may be the reason why her first shot missed.
Moore was sentenced to life in prison for the assassination attempt. She spent 32 years behind bars before being paroled in 2007.
After being released, Moore reportedly changed her name and moved to North Carolina. At some point, she moved to Tennessee and, after a fall in 2022, lived in a rehabilitation facility.
