The shot(s) at Zapruder frame 224 (Why lone gunman zealots can't tell the truth)

According to the most commonly accepted lone gunman shooting scenario, the first shot was fired by Oswald from the south eastern most window of the 6^th of the TSBD at circa frame 160 of the Zapruder film. The second shot was fired at circa frame 224 (the single bullet shot), with the third and final shot being the head shot – striking the President at frame 313. In this post, I spent a considerable amount of time explaining that this is nothing but pure fantasy on the part of lone gunman zealots.

I this post, I have limited my discussion to the shot(s) at circa Zapruder frame 224. Although I have discussed this at length previously, I believe it deserves to be addressed again. As I have explained previously, the shot(s) at circa Zapruder frame 224 was not fired from the 6^th floor window of the TSBD. As I also explained, this shot was likely fired from the 7^th floor of the Dal –Tex building (opposite the TSBD on Houston Street), and that by all likelihood it was a silenced shot.

There is very little (if any doubt) that a shot was fired prior to the shot(s) at circa frame 224. For example, consider the following evidence for a shot fired prior to frame 224:

1.      Phil Willis’s testimony before the Warren Commission that the first shot caused him to snap a photo with his camera. This photo was determined to be taken at circa Zapruder frame 202.

2.      Rosemary Willis’s (Phil Willis’s daughter) testimony before the HSCA that she stopped running at the sound of the first shot. Willis was the 10 year old girl seen in the Zapruder film running towards the President’s limousine on the south side of Elm Street. Rosemary can be seen slowing down at circa Zapruder frame 190.

3.      Secret service agent George Hickey’s rapid head turn from looking left to looking forward. Hickey’s head turn occurs between Zapruder frames 193 and 202.

4.      Secret Service agent John ready’s right arm drop at circa Zapruder frame 200. Ready was the secret service agent standing on the right (in front) running board of the Secret Service follow -up car, and can be seen in the famous Altgens’ photo taken at circa Zapruder frame 255 looking to his rear, along with agents Paul Landis and George Hickey.

5.      Jiggling of Abraham Zapruder’s camera beginning at circa Zapruder frame 188.

6.      John Connally’s testimony before the Warren Commission (and interviews with reporters etc.) that he turned to look over his right shoulder upon hearing the first shot. Connally can be seen turning to his right prior to Zapruder frame 224.

7.      Witnesses who indicated that President Kennedy was waving as the first shot was fired. Kennedy can be seen waving between frames 178 and 190.

8.      Jacqueline Kennedy’s testimony before the Warren Commission that she turned her head towards the President upon hearing the first shot. Her head begins to turn to her right at circa Zapruder frame 171. Phil Willis also testified to the Warren Commission that Jacqueline Kennedy turned her head to the right following the first shot.

For further discussion on the first shot, please refer to this article. Better yet, check out Pat Speer’s brilliant analysis of the ear witness statements here on his website.

As proof that the shot(s) at circa frame 224 to Governor Connally were not fired from the 6^th floor window of the TSBD, one only needs to read the statements by the three witnesses on the 5^th floor of the TSBD, and Governor Connally. The three witnesses on the 5^th floor were Harold Norman, Bonnie Ray Williams, and James Earl Jarman, all of whom worked in the TSBD.

Norman and Williams were standing in the windows directly below the sniper’s nest window of the 6^th floor, with Jarman standing one window to the west of them. Norman is popular amongst lone gunman zealots due to his claim of hearing the bolt of the rifle being worked, as well as hearing three shell casings hit the floor above him. However, as previously discussed, he made no mention of this during his interview with the FBI on November 26!

Although lone gunman zealots use Norman as “proof” that all of the shots fired at President Kennedy originated from the 6^th floor sniper’s nest, what they don’t tell you is that all three of the witnesses on the 5^th floor indicated that they heard one shot prior to the headshot(s)!

From Norman’s Warren Commission testimony:

Mr. Norman

About the time that he got past the window where I was, well, it seems as though he was, I mean you know, brushing his hair. Maybe he was looking to the public.

Mr. McCloy

Saluting?

Mr. Norman

Yes.

Mr. Ball

With which arm?

Mr. Norman

I believe it was his right arm, and I can't remember what the exact time was but I know I heard a shot, and then after I heard the shot, well, it seems as though the President, you know, slumped or something, and then another shot and I believe Jarman or someone told me, he said, "I believe someone is shooting at the President," and I think I made a statement "It is someone shooting at the President, and I believe it came from up above us." Well, I couldn't see at all during the time but I know I heard a third shot fired, and I could also hear something sounded like the shell hulls hitting the floor and the ejecting of the rifle, it sounded as though it was to me.

Further on during his testimony:

Mr. McCloy

You spoke about seeing the President sort of slump over after the first shot?

Mr. Norman

Yes; I believe the first.

As we can see, Norman claimed he observed the President “slump or something” after the first shot. Yet, according to the aforementioned shooting scenario, Norman should have heard two shots prior to seeing the President slump. It should be noted that Norman claimed during his testimony before the HSCA, that he didn’t see the President’s reaction to the first shot. However, which one of his statements are we to honestly consider more reliable? His statement to the Warren Commission - less than a year following the assassination? Or his statement to the HSCA in 1977? In any event, during his testimony at the mock trial of Oswald in 1986, Norman confirmed his initial claim of seeing the President slump after the first shot.

Norman’s claim of seeing the President slump after the first shot was corroborated by Bonnie Ray Williams. It is important to point out that Williams, who was standing a few feet away from Norman, failed to hear the bolt of the rifle being worked or the shell casings hit the floor as Norman claimed.

The following is the relevant excerpt from Bonnie Ray Williams’s interview with CBS (aired on 25/6/1967):

“When the President came around, we remember seeing him standing up and waving.  And then when he turned to go down Elm Street we heard a shot and we saw the President slump.  And then after we saw him slump, we said--I think one guy, I don't remember which one it was-- said "I believe they're shooting at the President and I believe it came from right up over us."

Williams claimed that the President slumped after a shot (not two) was fired. James Jarman also provided confirmation that there was only one shot fired prior to the headshot(s).

The following is the relevant excerpt from Jarman’s interview with the FBI on 24/11/63.

“He said that he heard a shot and then saw President Kennedy move his right hand up to his head. After an elapse of three or four seconds, he heard a second shot and then the vehicle bearing President Kennedy speeded up and he was unable to observe any more about the presidential vehicle. He said a third shot was heard by him closely following the second shot possibly within a second or two afterwards.  He said these shots sounded to him to be too loud to have been anywhere outside the TSBD building.”

The following is the relevant excerpt from Jarman’s testimony before the Warren Commission:

Mr. Ball 

After the motorcade passed, what happened?

Mr. Jarman 

After the motorcade turned, going west on Elm, then there was a loud shot, or backfire, as I thought it was then--I thought it was a backfire.

Mr. Ball

You thought it was what?

Mr. Jarman 

A backfire or an officer giving a salute to the President. And then at that time I didn't, you know, think too much about it. And then the second shot was fired, and that is when the people started falling on the ground and the motorcade car jumped forward, and then the third shot was fired right behind the second one.

As we can see, Jarman claimed in his interview with the FBI that the President’s car had accelerated following the second shot. Examination of both the Zapruder and the Orville Nix films demonstrate clearly that the President’s car accelerated after the headshot(s)! In fact, the car was decelerating between Zapruder frame 224 and the headshot(s). In other words, Jarman indicated that he had heard only one shot prior to the headshot(s).

During his testimony, Jarman explained that he observed people falling to the ground after the second shot. He also confirmed his claim of seeing the President’s car (described by him as the motorcade car) jumped/accelerated forward. It is important to note the photographic and film evidence indicates that people started to fall to the ground following the headshot(s) – and not the shot(s) at Zapruder frame 224. For example, in the famous Altgens’ photo (taken at Zapruder frame 255) we can see many of the spectators still looking towards the President’s limousine and smiling. Had two audible shots been fired by this time, most of the spectators would surely not be smiling - and would have concerned looks on their faces.

I should also note that upon questioning by Commissioner Gerald Ford, Jarman did concede that the President’s limousine accelerated after the third shot (see below). However, bear in mind that Jarman described hearing the last two shots fired close together. Therefore, his confusion is understandable.

Representative Ford  

And at what point did you get up from where you were on your knees in the window?

Mr. Jarman 

When the motorcar picked up speed.

Representative Ford  

Was this after what you thought was the third shot?

Mr. Jarman

The third shot; yes.

To summarise, both Norman and Williams indicated in their initial statements that President Kennedy slumped following the first shot. This is consistent with Jarman’s claim of hearing one shot prior to the head shot. Therefore, Norman, Williams, and Jarman didn’t hear the shot(s) fired at circa Zapruder frame 224! Since they didn’t hear the shot(s), then obviously the shot(s) was not fired from the 6^th floor of the TSBD, but from another location in Dealey Plaza. This of course proves that there was another shooter – and that the assassination was a conspiracy.

It should also be noted, that during his interview with CBS (aired on 27/9/64), Norman also claimed that people began falling to the ground after the second shot (See below). As mentioned above, people started falling to the ground after the headshot.

“When I heard the second shot, that’s when I saw the people start falling on the ground."

It is also interesting to note that Jarman explained to the Warren Commission that he observed the President “lean his head” following the second shot. Although this could be referring to the President’s slump to the left following Zapruder frame 224, Jarman’s aforementioned statements, along with Norman’s and William’s, suggest that by all likelihood he was referring to the President slumping into the limousine following the headshot(s).

As I have discussed in this post, researcher Pat Speer undertook the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of the observations of the ear witnesses to the assassination. Speer demonstrated that the majority of the witnesses who observed President Kennedy’s reactions to the shooting were consistent with the observations of Norman, Williams and Jarman. Speer then reached the logical conclusion that the shot(s) at circa Zapruder frame 224 were fired from a rifle equipped with a silencer/suppressor.

In fact, Governor Connally who was wounded at circa Zapruder frame 224 always insisted that he never heard the shot(s) which caused his injuries. The following is from Connally’s testimony before the Warren Commission.

Mr. Specter

Would you place your initials, Governor, by the mark that you made there? Governor, you have described hearing a first shot and a third shot. Did you hear a second shot?

Governor Connally

No; I did not.

Further on during his testimony:

Mr. Specter

Do you have any idea as to why you did not hear the second shot?

Governor Connally

Well, first, again I assume the bullet was traveling faster than the sound. I was hit by the bullet prior to the time the sound reached me, and I was in either a state of shock or the impact was such that the sound didn't even register on me, but I was never conscious of hearing the second shot at all. Obviously, at least the major wound that I took in the shoulder through the chest couldn't have been anything but the second shot. Obviously, it couldn't have been the third, because when the third shot was fired I was in a reclining position, and heard it, saw it and the effects of it, rather--I didn't see it, I saw the effects of it--so it obviously could not have been the third, and couldn't have been the first, in my judgment.

As we can see, Connally claimed the reason he didn’t hear the second shot was due to the shock caused by the bullets impact. Whilst this explanation is certainly plausible, it is undermined by the fact that Connally heard the headshot(s). Naturally the question is: How was Connally able to hear to the headshot(s) – approximately 5 seconds following his injuries whilst under great shock and pain, but not the shot(s) which wounded him?

Even if one is to discount Governor Connally as a reliable witness, the statements by Norman, Williams, Jarman, and the majority of the witnesses in Dealey Plaza prove that the shot(s) at circa Zapruder frame 224 didn’t originate from the 6^th floor of the TSBD. But do lone gunman zealots mention any of this? Well, of course not. After all, they’re only concerned with trying to preserve the myth that Oswald acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy. This is exactly why I refer to them as kooks and zealots.

Honestly, it makes me sick whenever I hear a lone gunman zealot argue that there is no evidence of a conspiracy, and that conspiracy theorists are liars or just delusional. Now if you want further evidence that the shot(s) at Zapruder frame 224 didn’t originate from the 6^th floor of the TSBD, then just consider all the problems with Ce543 (one of the three empty shell casings allegedly discovered on the 6^th floor of the TBSD, which researchers such as Josiah Thompson have discussed at length).

Also consider that during the autopsy the size of President Kennedy’s back wound was measured – and found to be 7 by 4 mm. Yet the diameter of Mannlicher Carcano bullets measures 6.8 cm. There are also problems with the so – called discovery of Ce399 on the stretcher at Parkland memorial hospital. For example, Darrel Tomlinson (who discovered the bullet), informed the Warren Commission and Josiah Thompson that the bullet was not on Governor Connally’s stretcher, but on a stretcher next to it.

Also consider that O.P Wright, the chief of security at Parkland hospital to whom Tomlinson handed the bullet, described the bullet to Josiah Thompson as being pointed! However, Ce399 is not pointed. For further discussion on this crucial issue as well as the single bullet theory, please refer to this two part article.

Let me conclude by saying that no matter how many assassins were shooting at President Kennedy on the day of his assassination, the above mentioned statements and evidence proves that there were at least two shooters located in Dealey plaza on that dreadful day.