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.
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