SA Rufus C. Coulter served as an FBI Agent from 1928 to 1945, and was born in Tennessee in 1903. He was an orphan at a young age. He was a graduate of Arkansas University, having attended night classes. After being assigned to several Bureau offices, he served as Special Agent In Charge of the Phoenix office. When he resigned, he served as Chief Of Police in Phoenix and was later employed by Motorola, Inc. Coulter died in 1975 and had served as Chairman of the Phoenix Chapter, Society Of Former Agents. SA Rosser "Rusty" Nalls was born in WDC and joined the Bureau in 1929. He retired in 1956 and died in 1983 at the age of 82.
Both Nalls and Coulter (who later played a role in the Brady shootout) were in St. Paul, Minn. on March 31, 1934 assisting in the Dillinger case under the direction of SAC William Rorer. On that day, in checking out a lead from an apartment manager, Nalls and Coulter attempted to resolve the identity of 2 suspicious men, and one woman, reported by the manager.
The resulting incident is a classic case of how everything seemingly routine can "go to hell" at a moment's notice and how Coulter and Detective Henry Cummings nearly lost their lives running into Dillinger, Homer Van Meter and Evelyn Frechette under aliases.
Totally disregarding the lives of any innocent people within range, it was Dillinger at this scene who had the Thompson SMG and who fired at the officers from the door, and through the door, of his apartment. He did this knowing full well that at a minimum, there was an officer (Detective Cummings) within immediate range in the hallway. He also fired on special agent Coulter from the upstairs window.
It's worth noting that initially, it was believed that known bank robber Eddie Green was the "soap salesman" in the stairway who fired on SA Coulter. As the days progressed, it was determined that instead, it was Homer Van Meter. Green had been pursued in the aftermath and was killed by FBI agents.
Three Bureau records will provide readers with the initial facts of the Lexington Ave. shootout followed by additional details:
One final report of SAC Rorer puts much of the gang membership in St. Paul in perspective along with the first hand account of Bessie Skinner who was present for that and much more. Skinner was the "moll" of Eddie Green and would not provide any information to the FBI while Green was still alive after his shooting. Any red arrows or boxes seen on these reports are mine in an effort to bring emphasis to certain areas.