Witness Statements

Warren Commission (July22.64)

“Mr. LIEBELER. Now did you stand at that particular spot the entire time, or did you move down Elm Street?

Mr. WILLIS. No, sir; I took that picture just seconds before the first shot was fired, to get back close up. Then I started down the street, and the regular weekly edition of Life magazine came out and shows me in about three different pictures going down the street. Then my next shot was taken at the very--in fact, the shot caused me to squeeze the camera shutter, and I got a picture of the President as he was hit with the first shot. So instantaneous, in fact, that the crowd hadn’t had time to react.”

…

“Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell us when that picture was made?

Mr. WILLIS. That picture was made at the very instant that the first shot was fired. As a matter of fact, the fellow standing on the ledge under the right-hand corner of the Stemmons Highway sign is a gentleman who took the last pictures that appeared in Life, and his pictures showed that this instant with this sign in between the photographer and the President, shows that at this instant he had already grabbed his throat.

This was pointed out to the Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Picture No. 2 will verify that, in Life magazine. You see the highway sign that he has the rear of, is the one I have the front of. And as he approached this same sign in this film, he has already grabbed his throat. That is by verified by that fact.

Mr. LIEBELER. Referring to the pictures on page 4 of the memorial edition of Life magazine. Picture No. 1 shows you standing, as we have already indicated, standing back with your camera?

Mr. WILLIS. Picture 2 shows the President just as the car comes from behind this sign, and it shows that he has already reached for his throat at that time. ”

…

“Mr. LIEBELER. Did you think that the President had been hit by the first shot?

Mr. WILLIS. I didn’t really know, sir.

Mr. LIEBELER. You couldn’t tell whether he was hit by the first shot? You couldn’t tell whether he had been hit by the first shot or the second shot or the third shot, or by how many shots he had been hit?

Mr. WILLIS. No, sir; except this one thing might be worthy of mention. When I took slide No. 4, the President was smiling and waving and looking straight ahead, and Mrs. Kennedy was likewise smiling and facing more to my side of the street. When the first shot was fired, her head seemed to just snap in that direction, and he more or less faced the other side of the street and leaned forward, which caused me to wonder, although I could not see anything positively. It did cause me to wonder.

Mr. LIEBELER. You say that the President looked toward his left; is that correct? Toward the side of Elm Street that you are standing on, or which way?

Mr. WILLIS. In slide No. 4 he was looking pretty much toward--straight ahead, and she was looking more to the left, which would be my side of the street. Then when the first shot was fired, she turned to the right toward him and he more or less slumped forward, and it caused me to wonder if he were hit, although I couldn’t say.”

Clay Shaw Trial (Feb14.69)

“Well, after having photographed the President on Main Street and on Houston Street and then in front of the Depository Building on Elm Street I cocked my camera for another picture and this loud shot went off and the first reaction was that could it be a crank or a firecracker but it was so loud and of such a sound it had to be rifle so I became alarmed. I was trying to take a picture at the moment and the reflex from the shot caused me to take one of these pictures.”

Warren Commission (July22.64)

“Mr. ALTGENS. I made one picture at the time I heard a noise that sounded like a firecracker—I did not know it was a shot, but evidently my picture, as I recall, and it was almost simultaneously with the shot—the shot was just a fraction ahead of my picture, but that much—of course at that time I figured it was nothing more than a firecracker, because from my position down here the sound was not of such volume that it would indicate to me it was a high-velocity rifle.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any idea where the sound came from when you were standing there at No. 3 on Commission Exhibit No. 354?

Mr. ALTGENS. Well, it sounded like it was coming up from behind the car from my position—I mean the first shot, and being fireworks—who counts fireworks explosions? I wasn’t keeping track of the number of pops that took place, but I could vouch for No. 1, and I can vouch for the last shot, but I cannot tell you how many shots were in between. There was not another shot fired after the President was struck in the head. That was the last shot--that much I will say with a great degree of certainty.”

…

“Mr. LIEBELER. Could you tell us approximately how many shots there were between the first and the last shot—as you well know—there were supposed to have been three shots, but how many shots did you hear?

Mr. ALTGENS. Well, I wouldn’t want to say—I don’t want to guess, because facts are so important on something like this. I am inclined to feel like that there were not as many as I have heard people say. I think it’s of a smaller denomination, a smaller number, but I cannot—I can really only vouch for the two. Now, I know that there was at least one shot in between.

Mr. LIEBELER. At least one?

Mr. ALTGENS. I would say that—I know there was one in between. It is possible there might have been another one I don’t really know, but two, I can really account for.”

Interview with Richard B. Trask (Nov21.85)

“My first instinct was ‘well, they’re shooting firecrackers up there,’ or some kind of celebration on behalf of the President. And then I hear it again as the car comes on down. No one has the foggiest idea that something was taking place.”

…

“So I figured they [uniformed police] had spotted the guy somewhere and they had chased him up her, and I wanted to come over and get a picture of the guy—if they had such a person in custody. And I came over here and by the time I get up to the hill, they’re turned around and are coming back. And they hadn't found anything.”

Woodward's 1963 Notes

“At last the presidential limousine was in our range of view. For those in the car, it seemed as though the parade was over. The president and his wife were talking to each other, and for a moment it seemed that after all the waiting, we weren’t going to get to see them full-face. Then we started our own cheering section, and President and Mrs. Kennedy turned around, looked directly at us, flashed their well-known smiles, gave us a wave of recognition, then looked forward again. Ann and I remarked, almost echoing each other, how well and radiant they both looked. The car proceeded down Elm, and when it was about 40 yards from us, we heard the first noise.”

My Notes

“So the first shot occurred just after Mrs. Kennedy turned away from looking towards Mary and her group (Jackie turns leftward towards the crowd with Willis), and when the car was "40 yards from us". Now 40 yards is a lot, so she may have meant 40 feet. She writes "The car proceeded down Elm ... and when ... from us", meaning the car hadn't reached her position yet when she heard the first shot. The limousine was still "from" her or still in front of her viewing position as she looked up the street.”

JFK Assassination Forum page ( Link )

Interview with Robert E. Croft (Apr20.88)

“I can’t tell you at this point anything about the shots, numbers, or where they were. I was on my way back, as I remember, before the car ever got—it was kind of going down a hill under a railroad track. And I noticed what time it was and took off, because I was going to be late for the train.”

Silent Witness: Powell native snapped famed JFK photo

“Croft told the Powell Tribune for a story published Nov. 26, 1963, that he was 30 feet from JFK’s limousine when the shots rang out at around 12:30 p.m. Central Time.”

Powell Tribune, November 21, 2013 ( Link )

Casper Star-Tribune, November 26, 2013 ( Link )

Affidavit Excerpts (Nov22.63)

“I took another picture as the President’s car was going down the hill on Elm Street. I started to wind my film again and I heard a loud noise. I thought that this noise was either a firecracker or a car had backfired. I looked up and it seemed like there was another loud noise in the matter of a few seconds. I looked down the street and I could see the President’s car and another one and they looked like the cars were stopped. Then I saw a flash of pink like someone standing up and then sitting back down in the car.”

…

“I heard at least two shots fired and I saw what looked like a firecracker going off in the president’s car. My assumption for this was because I saw fragments going up in the air. I also saw a man in either the President’s car or the car behind his and someone down in one of those cars pull out what looked like a rifle. I also remember seeing what looked like a nickel revolver in someone's hand in the President’s car or somewhere immediately around his car. Then the President’s car sped on under the underpass.”

William Eugene Newman

FBI Report (Nov24.63)

He believes that when the President’s car was approximately 50 feet from him proceeding in a westerly direction on Elm Street he heard the first shot fired. It was his belief that two shots were fired in rapid succession which he thought at the time was a firecracker.

The car was proceeding toward him and it seemed that the President’s arms went up and that he raised up in his seat and started to look around. The car proceeded to a point about even with him and he could see Governor JOHN CONNALLY was holding his stomach. About that time another shot was fired which he estimated was ten seconds after the first shot was fired.

…

He said the president was hit on the right side of the head with the third shot and he heard the thud when the bullet struck the President.

Shaw Trial

I heard two shots — BOOM, BOOM — and when the first shot was fired the President throwed his hands up like this (demonstrating), and at the time what we thought had happened, somebody throwed firecrackers or something under the automobile and he was protecting his face. At the time of the first shot Governor Connally turned in his seat in this manner (demonstrating), to look back at the President I suppose.

Gayle Newman

Affidavit (Nov22.63)

I heard a noise like a firecracker going off. President Kennedy kind of jumped like he was startled and covered his head with his hands and then raised up. After I heard the first shot, another shot sounded and Governor Connally kind of grabbed his chest and lay back on the seat of the car. When I first saw and heard all of this, I thought it was all of a joke. Just about the time President Kennedy was right in front of us, I heard another shot ring out, and the President put his hands up to his head. I saw blood all over the side of his head.

FBI Report (Nov24.63)

She estimates that when the limousine bearing the Presidential party was about 50 feet from them she heard rifle reports and the president seemed to rise up in his seat. A few seconds later she heard another shot and saw that the President had been hit in the head

Shaw Trial

A: The President’s car was maybe 100 or 150 feet from us when I first heard the noise and the first two noises were close together, just seconds apart.

Q: Were you looking at the President at the time you heard the first report?

A: Yes, sir, I was.

Q: Were you able to observe any reaction on his part?

A: Yes, sir, at the time of the first noise he threw his hands up.

Q: Could you simulate what you observed?

A: He threw his hands up like this and sort of turned his head.

Q: Did you have occasion to hear a second report?

A: Yes, sir, I did.

Q: Before I go into that, were you able to observe Governor Connally after the first report?

A: Yes, sir, I saw Governor Connally with the first shot seemed to turn a little bit like this. (Indicating.)

Q: You said you then heard a second report?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Were you able to observe any reaction on the part of Governor Connally then?

A: Yes, sir, at the time of the second shot Governor Connally grabbed his stomach.

Q: Did he do anything else?

A: Well, his eyes just got real big and he sort of slumped down in the seat.

Q: Were you able to hear a third report?

A: Yes, sir, we heard a third report, it was a short time, not maybe 10 or 12 seconds after the first two shots.

Q: And what were you able to observe the effects of this shot then?

A: Yes, sir, that shot when it happened, the President’s car was directly in front of us and it was about a lane’s width between us, it wasn’t in the lane next to the curb it was in the middle lane, and at that time he was shot in the head right at his ear or right above his ear.