James A. Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau. Guiteau, an emotionally unstable attorney and political opportunist, shot Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1881. Garfield survived the initial attack for several weeks but ultimately died on September 19, 1881 from infections related to the wounds and medical complications. Guiteau was tried, found guilty, and hanged in 1882, after claiming he had acted as a tool of divine providence and that Garfield’s removal was a necessary political act.