Warren Commission (12 of 26): Hearings Vol. XII (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (12 of 26): Hearings Vol. XII (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Chief BATCHELOR. I saw him on the floor. I couldn't see him too well.
There was several men on top. He was still struggling in the jail
office, but they had already gotten the gun away from him and they were
trying to get him handcuffed and get him down and laying still, but he
was fighting them.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you hear him say anything?
Chief BATCHELOR. No; I don't recall anything he said.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you hear the officers say anything to him?
Chief BATCHELOR. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long did you remain there?
Chief BATCHELOR. Just a few minutes. The ambulance came almost
immediately. It was just--I walked out of there before the ambulance
came and walked back. Someone shouted right after this happened, and
there was a lot of confusion, and someone shouted, "Don't let anybody
out."
There were a bunch of reporters that started running like they were
frightened. I suppose they were running to telephones, but they tried
to run up the Main Street ramp, and I remember very clearly the officer
at the top of the ramp pulling his gun and said, "Get back down."
They turned around and walked back down, but most of them escaped
through the corridor. Not out the ramp, but went out through the
corridor.
Mr. GRIFFIN. This is the corridor that leads from the record room to
Commerce Street?
Chief BATCHELOR. Well, yes. They escaped out the corridor off the
hallway that leads in front of the jail office into the Records Bureau,
and then to Commerce Street.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did they escape out Commerce Street?
Chief BATCHELOR. I don't know where they went from there, whether they
went upstairs to use the telephone, or out in the street. But there
would have been nobody over there that heard the command not to let
them out. This was kind of a spontaneous command.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What percentage of people would you say got out of the
basement? News media people got out of the basement that way?
Chief BATCHELOR. I don't know. They scattered pretty quickly. Still a
lot hung around after it was over. I would say half, at least, got out
that way.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, were you in the jail office when Ruby was taken
upstairs in the elevator?
Chief BATCHELOR. Was I in the jail office when he was taken upstairs?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Chief BATCHELOR. No, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Where were you?
Chief BATCHELOR. I went as soon as the ambulance came and got him,
I ran up the ramp and told him to get that truck out of there, that
it was blocking the entrance to the ramp, and then I left and went
upstairs and told Chief Curry what happened. By the time I got up
there, somebody called him and he knew what happened.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What did you do next?
Chief BATCHELOR. Lord, I don't remember what I did next. We sat there
kind of dumbfounded for a while.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did there come a time during the rest of the day when you
talked with Ruby?
Chief BATCHELOR. I never did talk with Ruby.
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