Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. KennedyUnited States. Warren Commission
History
Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
In considering whether Oswald was at the southeast corner window at the
time the shots were fired, the Commission has reviewed the testimony
of witnesses who saw Oswald in the building within minutes after the
assassination. The Commission has found that Oswald’s movements, as
described by these witnesses, are consistent with his having been at
the window at 12:30 p.m.
_The encounter in the lunchroom._--The first person to see Oswald
after the assassination was Patrolman M. L. Baker of the Dallas Police
Department. Baker was riding a two-wheeled motorcycle behind the last
press car of the motorcade.[C4-319] As he turned the corner from Main
onto Houston at a speed of about 5 to 10 miles per hour,[C4-320] a
strong wind blowing from the north almost unseated him.[C4-321] At
about this time he heard the first shot.[C4-322] Having recently
heard the sounds of rifles while on a hunting trip, Baker recognized
the shots as that of a high-powered rifle; “it sounded high and I
immediately kind of looked up, and I had a feeling that it came from
the building, either right in front of me [the Depository Building]
or of the one across to the right of it.”[C4-323] He saw pigeons
flutter upward. He was not certain, “but I am pretty sure they came
from the building right on the northwest corner.”[C4-324] He heard two
more shots spaced “pretty well even to me.”[C4-325] After the third
shot, he “revved that motorcycle up,” drove to the northwest corner
of Elm and Houston, and parked approximately 10 feet from the traffic
signal.[C4-326] As he was parking he noted that people were “falling,
and they were rolling around down there * * * grabbing their children”
and rushing about.[C4-327] A woman screamed, “Oh, they have shot that
man, they have shot that man.”[C4-328] Baker “had it in mind that the
shots came from the top of this building here,” so he ran straight to
the entrance of the Depository Building.[C4-329]
Baker testified that he entered the lobby of the building and “spoke
out and asked where the stairs or elevator was * * * and this man,
Mr. Truly, spoke up and says, it seems to me like he says, ‘I am a
building manager. Follow me, officer, and I will show you.’”[C4-330]
Baker and building superintendent Roy Truly went through a second set
of doors[C4-331] and stopped at a swinging door where Baker bumped into
Truly’s back.[C4-332] They went through the swinging door and continued
at “a good trot” to the northwest corner of the floor where Truly hoped
to find one of the two freight elevators. (See Commission Exhibit No.
1061, p. 148.) Neither elevator was there.[C4-333] Truly pushed the
button for the west elevator which operates automatically if the gate
is closed.[C4-334] He shouted twice, “Turn loose the elevator.”[C4-335]
When the elevator failed to come, Baker said, “let’s take the stairs,”
and he followed Truly up the stairway, which is to the west of the
elevator.[C4-336]
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1118
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