DC 50 years ago: President Kennedy assassinated
President was riding in a motorcade, when three shots were fired and he was hit on the head.
Dallas (Texas): President Kennedy died here today from an assassin’s bullet. The 46-year-old President was riding in a motorcade here with his wife Jackie, when three shots were fired and he was hit on the head.
He was rushed to hospital, given a blood transfusion but died shortly afterwards at 1900 GMT (0030 IST Saturday). The President was shot as his open car passed near an intersection in the main business area of the city.
As the shots rang out, President Kennedy fell face down in the back of the car. Mrs Kennedy cried, “oh, no” and tried to hold his head. Governor John Connally, who was with them in the car, was also hit by bullets, and slumped on the seat. Police rushed the car to a hospital. FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover ordered a manhunt for the assassin.
A youth was later reported to have been picked up. One reporter covering the President’s Texas trip said he heard three shots fired as the President’s car entered a highway Underpass.
Pandemonium broke out but Secret Service Agents waved the motorcade onto a road which led to the Parkland Hospital. Within five minutes the President’s car pulled up at the Hospital entrance. Reporters saw the President lying flat on his face in the car.