The First Shot

[Andrew Mason]

Woodward was referring to Oswald's second shot at Z-222, the one where CE-399 wounded both JFK and JBC. You can see JFK starting to lift his arm to wave to Woodward and her colleagues in Z-173 (in which Woodward is standing between journalist Aurelia Alonzo to her left and Ann Donaldson to her right in the blurry edge of the frame. Another colleague, Maggie Brown, is dressed in black and standing in the clear part of the frame to Donaldson's right.

Woodward told Stephen Fagin in a videotaped interview at the Sixth Floor Museum that she heard three shots altogether, and that the first one, which she thought had missed everything, sounded like a backfire.

It's obvious to me that the "shattering noise" she spoke about wasn't Oswald's first, missing-everything, shot at "Z-124," but his second shot at Z-222.

I don't understand how it can be be "obvious" to you that she was describing the second shot because that is definitely not what she said.  She said she heard three shots.  She described the first horrible ear shattering noise that occurred when the car had passed by and the president had turned forward.  She described a pause of a few seconds and then two shots that were very close together.


The problem is not all the witnesses.  The problem is your z124 first shot. It didn't happen, according to those who were there.

[Tom Graves]

I don't understand how it can be be "obvious" to you that she was describing the second shot because that is definitely not what she said.  She said she heard three shots.  She described the first horrible ear shattering noise that occurred when the car had passed by and the president had turned forward.  She described a pause of a few seconds and then two shots that were very close together. The problem is not all the witnesses.  The problem is your z124 first shot. It didn't happen, according to those who were there.

"The President was looking straight ahead and we were afraid we would not get to see his face. But we started clapping and cheering and both he and Mrs. Kennedy turned, and smiled and waved, directly at us, it seemed. Jackie was wearing a beautiful pink suit with beret to match. Two of us, who had seen the President last during the final weeks of the 1960 campaign remarked how relaxed and robust he looked.

As it turned out, we were almost certainly the last faces he noticed in the crowd."

After acknowledging our cheers, he faced forward again and suddenly there was a horrible, ear-shattering noise coming from behind us and a little to the right."


My comment:

The only time JFK waved to Woodward and her colleagues was when he started raising his arm to do so in Z-173.

https://assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/z173.jpg


He's waving to them (and in the process of turning his head even farther to the right in order to look at them), and Jackie has turned her head in their direction, too, in Z-180.

[Zeon Mason]

Unlike the other Mason, I’m seeing that JFK, Jackie and SS agent Hickey are ALL reacting in sync from Z140-Z150. That’s quite a coincidence I have to admit but I’m not sure if it’s a loud shot from TSBD which is the cause of those 3 in snyc reactions.

Because why has not JC turned his head left also at Z140-Z150  since he said he recognized the 1st loud noise as a rifhe shot?
 

[Tom Graves]

Unlike the other Mason, I’m seeing that JFK, Jackie and SS agent Hickey are ALL reacting in sync from Z140-Z150. That’s quite a coincidence I have to admit but I’m not sure if it’s a loud shot from TSBD which is the cause of those 3 in snyc reactions.

Because why has not JC turned his head left also at Z140-Z150 since he said he recognized the 1st loud noise as a rifhe shot?

He did consciously react to the sound of Oswald's first, missing-everything, shot at "Z-124" by turning his head to his right (before quickly turning it to his left and be caught looking straight forward in Croft at Z-161) around Z-145.

Remember, he testified that he recognized the sound as a rifle shot and thought that it had come from behind him and to his right.

[Andrew Mason]

My comment:

The only time JFK waved to Woodward and her colleagues was when he started raising his arm to do so in Z-173.

He's waving to them (and in the process of turning his head even farther to the right in order to look at them), and Jackie has turned her head in their direction, too, in Z-180.

I quite agree.  That is the turn and wave that she is referring to.   But she said it occurred before the "horrible ear-shattering noise" that was followed by a pause of a few seconds and then two more shots, the third coming rapidly after the second. 

[Tom Graves]

I quite agree. That is the turn and wave that she is referring to.   But she said it occurred before the "horrible ear-shattering noise" that was followed by a pause of a few seconds and then two more shots, the third coming rapidly after the second.

JFK's turn and wave to Mary Woodward and her colleagues at Z-173 did come before the "horrible, ear-shattering noise" of Oswald's second shot at Z-222.

Do you think she equated the backfire-like sound (which is how some other witnesses characterized the first shot and which she said she didn't think had hit anybody) with the "horrible ear-shattering noise" of the second shot?


EDIT ALERT FOR COMRADE STORING:

“At first we didn’t know what it was, if it was a car backfiring,” she said. “… Then there was the second shot and then the third. Then I saw [Kennedy’s] head just break open.”

https://www.timestelegram.com/story/news/2013/11/21/little-falls-resident-was-witness/41823236007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z11xx71d00----v11xx71d--xx--b--xx--&gca-ft=119&gca-ds=sophi

[Andrew Mason]

JFK's turn and wave to Mary Woodward and her colleagues at Z-173 did come before the "horrible, ear-shattering noise" of Oswald's second shot at Z-222.

I know that is what you think occurred. But that is not what she said occurred.  You don’t seem to want to deal with what she, and others, said occurred.

She said that the horrible ear-shattering noise was the first of three shots that she distinctly recalled, the last two following that horrible ear-shattering noise after a pause of several seconds.   

Do you think she equated the backfire-like sound (which is how some other witnesses characterized the first shot and which she said she didn't think had hit anybody) with the "horrible ear-shattering noise" of the second shot?

??I am just going by what she said. She did not mention a backfire-like sound before they shouted to JFK and before he turned and waved and smiled at them and before he passed by where she was standing. She referred to only three shots. 

She later said that the one thing she was totally positive of was that there were three shots and the second and third shots were close together-the last coming before the sound of the second had died out.

[Tom Graves]

She said that the horrible ear-shattering noise was the first of three shots that she distinctly recalled, the last two following that horrible ear-shattering noise after a pause of several seconds.

She said that the first shot sounded like a car backfire, and she said that it didn't hit anybody.


Well, the first thing I remember is . . . uhh . . . we wanted . . . they had turned the corner. It was like the parade was over. They were about to hit the freeway and there was this big crowd. There was people but not the huge crowds that they had coming through Dallas and they were kind of talking amongst themselves in the car and I yelled out “please look this way” because I wanted to see Jackie Kennedy “please look this way” and they did look at us and waved and I think we're the last people they waved to.

Stephen Fagin: Yeah, you can sort of see that moment in the Zapruder film when the President raises his hand . . . and then after they . . . when did when did the shooting begin?

Woodward:  Well, then the shooting . . . There was one shot . . . and I have always believed it didn't hit anybody and I think a lot of research has shown I'm probably right on this because I couldn't see anything happen and I couldn't figure out what it was and we were saying is it, you know, we thought it was somebody backfiring a car or fireworks or something, but then the next two shots came very, very rapidly the sound one didn't kind of fade away before the second shot came and that's when the second shot I saw really what happened, and I don't know . . . of all the four of us it seemed I was the only one who really saw or really understood what happened and I don't know whether it's because they really weren't that intent[ly] looking, they weren't the Kennedy aficionados that I was so I don't know if they really just weren't looking because it was also ending you know it was about to go up on the freeway ,or they just didn't grasp it,  I don't know, but we got back to the newspaper and we delayed a few minutes . . .

Stephen Fagin: Interrupts with a question about the Grassy Knoll.