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

THE DRIVE THROUGH DALLAS

The motorcade departed Love Field shortly after 11:50 a.m., traveling 25 to 30 miles per hour through sparsely populated outskirts. At the President’s direction, the limousine stopped twice—once in response to a sign requesting a handshake and once so the President could speak to a Catholic nun and a group of small children—during which Secret Service agents moved forward from the followup car to shield the President. Dense, enthusiastic crowds in downtown Dallas repeatedly forced Special Agent Hill and other agents off the followup car’s running boards and onto the rear of the President’s limousine to push the crowd back; Special Agent Youngblood similarly stepped out of the Vice-Presidential car when it was slowed by the throng. Following the planned route, the motorcade proceeded west on Main Street to Houston Street, turned right and went north past tall buildings toward the Texas School Book Depository, then onto Elm Street, where the crowd thinned abruptly as the road curved downgrade toward the Triple Underpass and Stemmons Freeway. As the cars approached the Houston-Elm intersection, O’Donnell and Mrs. Connally expressed pleasure at the warm reception, with Mrs. Connally telling the President, “Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you,” and the President replying, “That is very obvious.”

THE ASSASSINATION

At 12:30 p.m. as the open Presidential limousine traveled approximately 11 miles per hour along Elm Street toward the Triple Underpass, rifle shots mortally wounded President Kennedy and seriously injured Governor Connally. One bullet passed through the President’s neck; a subsequent bullet shattered the right side of his skull. Governor Connally sustained bullet wounds to his back, the right side of his chest, his right wrist, and his left thigh.