Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Presidential Death and Succession

At Parkland Hospital, physicians attempted to save the President’s life, performing a tracheotomy to address his neck wound and breathing issues, but were unable to detect a pulse after all heart activity ceased at 1 p.m. President Kennedy was pronounced dead shortly thereafter, with last rites administered by a priest. Governor Connally underwent surgery and survived his serious wounds. Upon confirmation of the President’s death, Vice President Johnson departed Parkland under close guard for Love Field, where he was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States by Federal District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes at 2:38 p.m. in the central compartment of the presidential plane, which departed immediately for Washington, D.C.

Autopsy Results

The President’s body was transported to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for a full pathological examination after the presidential plane arrived at Andrews Air Force Base at 5:58 p.m. EST. The autopsy confirmed the large fatal head wound observed at Parkland, the neck wound enlarged by the Parkland medical team during the tracheotomy (both classified as presumed exit wounds), a small entry wound in the rear of the skull, and another entry wound near the base of the back of the neck. The cause of death was ruled a gunshot wound to the head, with bullets determined to have been fired from a position behind and slightly above the President’s level.

Depository Investigation

Within minutes of the shooting, law enforcement focused on the 7-story Texas School Book Depository building on the northwest corner of Elm and Houston Streets as the likely origin of the shots. The building housed a private textbook distribution company and leased space to publisher representatives. Multiple eyewitnesses in front of the building reported seeing a rifle fired from the sixth-floor southeast corner window, including Howard L. Brennan, who had been standing across Elm Street facing the building. Brennan provided a description of the shooter to police, which was broadcast over Dallas police radio at 12:45 p.m., identifying the suspect as a slender white male in his early 30s, approximately 5’10“ tall. Dallas motorcycle patrolman Marrion L. Baker entered the building within 2 minutes of the shooting, and with building superintendent Roy Truly, encountered Lee Harvey Oswald, a quiet, solitary employee who had started working at the Depository on October 16, 1963, on the second-floor landing; after confirming Oswald was an employee, Baker proceeded up the stairs to continue the search.

Oswald’s Encounter with Law Enforcement

Shortly after his encounter with Patrolman Baker and building superintendent Truly on the Depository’s second floor, Oswald was seen passing through the second-floor offices holding a full Coke bottle purchased from the lunchroom vending machine, heading toward the building’s front entrance. He exited the building and boarded a westbound bus on Elm Street 7 blocks east of the Depository around 12:40 p.m., where he was recognized by his former landlady Mary Bledsoe. After staying on the bus for only 3-4 minutes during which it traveled just 2 blocks due to traffic from the motorcade and shooting, Oswald exited the bus and entered a vacant taxi 4 blocks away, asking to be dropped off several blocks past his roominghouse at 1026 North Beckley Avenue in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas.

Oswald’s Escape from Dallas

Oswald arrived at his roominghouse shortly before 1 p.m., surprising housekeeper Earlene Roberts with his unexpected midday visit and hurried demeanor. He made no comment when she remarked he seemed to be in a rush, then retrieved his jacket from his room and fled the property, placing him in the area near the site of the next violent incident in the immediate aftermath of the assassination.

Tippit Shooting

At approximately 1:15 p.m., roughly 45 minutes after the presidential assassination, Dallas patrolman J.D. Tippit was driving slowly east on East 10th Street in Oak Cliff, having been directed to the area via radio at 12:45 p.m. as part of a citywide patrol concentration following the assassination, and having confirmed his availability for emergencies at 12:54 p.m. Tippit pulled alongside a man walking east on 10th Street near Patton Avenue who matched the general description of the suspect broadcast over police radio; after exchanging words through the car window, Tippit opened his door and began walking around the front of his vehicle, at which point the man drew a revolver and fired four shots in rapid succession, killing Tippit instantly. Witness Domingo Benavides stopped nearby, observed the gunman removing spent cartridge cases from his weapon as he fled toward Patton Avenue, and promptly reported the shooting to police headquarters via Tippit’s patrol car radio shortly after 1:16 p.m.