In her book Tina Towner, page 7, she states: “ ...but there was not enough time before the first gunshot sounded—only a second or two, if that, after I stopped filming.”
I believe I have seen a video in which she said that the first shot sounded just about the time that she stopped filming. I don’t remember which video. But I will point it out if I come across it again.
Regardless, she didn’t time it with a stopwatch.
She did not time it with a stopwatch. True. But if she thought it was somewhat longer than one or two, that fits with what about 25 other witnesses said. If it was one or two seconds, it conflicts with those 25 witnesses.
I raised this in some discussions on the newsgroup in 2007 about the time of the first shot. Gary Mack replied with
this email in which he stated:
Andrew,
I've known Tina Towner since 1978 and my memory has been that she said
the first shot came just a second or two after she stopped filming.
However, in a March 30, 1996 oral history, Tina said it was four to six
seconds. So either I have misremembered, which is possible, or her
memory has changed.
What's important is that she stopped filming some seconds before the
shots were fired. That eliminates the early shot theory held by Max and
Johann.
....
Gary Mack
(the last two paragraphs omitted deal with Croft's statement to Richard Trask that after taking his z162 photo he had time to rewind his camera and run down the street and take another photo which he said was taken at the moment of the first shot. Unfortunately, it turned out blank.)
I have not seen Tina Towner's March 30, 1996 oral history which is in the Sixth Floor Museum but I am assuming that Gary Mack's account of what she says is accurate. The 4 to 6 seconds also fits with what she told Trask - that she was getting ready to leave after she stopped filming when she heard the first shot.
