The First Shot

[Royell Storing]

The surprise ambush from above and behind was a very effective one then. Don’t you agree? However, there was at least one person who had it figured out. Here’s an image from Elsie Dorman’s film of what I believe is Howard Brennan’s squatting in the shadows of the wall he had been sitting on and looking up towards the sniper’s nest. This is just before LHO fired the third shot.

   Judging the position of other people standing around that water pool, makes me think that the Dorman still frame is After the 3rd shot. That railroad guy in  Overalls appears to be looking toward the Triple Underpass. The other people seem to be meandering around like the bulk of the motorcade had passed by. I need to see a clearer still frame to judge the posture of Brennan.
   With respect to the position of shooters, though it got a lot of stuff wrong, I believe "The Men Who Killed Kennedy" (1988) got this one right. 3 total shooters. 1 in Front, 2 Behind. 1 of the behind shooters being, "almost on the horizontal".  "Almost on the horizontal" would include the Bushes/Shrubs/ Garden that run down the Elm St Ext. If you look at the uncropped Bothun Photo that shows the Umbrella Man & DCM sitting on the Elm St curb, in the background there is a Black Figure moving down the sidewalk that leads from the (E) pergola Shelter down to Elm St. This photo is roughly :45+ after the kill shot. You know how close that (E) pergola shelter and the sidewalk is to the Bushes/Shrubs/Garden. DPD Officer Smith running up the Elm St Ext  roughly:20 seconds after the kill shot, could have flushed this Black Figure out of the Bushes/Shrubs/Garden area into the (E) shelter/sidewalk. This (E) shelter/sidewalk area is Not where anyone would choose to watch the motorcade from. (The Bothun Photo is posted in this forum's "Photo Gallery")   

[Charles Collins]

   Judging the position of other people standing around that water pool, makes me think that the Dorman still frame is After the 3rd shot. That railroad guy in  Overalls appears to be looking toward the Triple Underpass. The other people seem to be meandering around like the bulk of the motorcade had passed by. I need to see a clearer still frame to judge the posture of Brennan.
   With respect to the position of shooters, though it got a lot of stuff wrong, I believe "The Men Who Killed Kennedy" (1988) got this one right. 3 total shooters. 1 in Front, 2 Behind. 1 of the behind shooters being, "almost on the horizontal".  "Almost on the horizontal" would include the Bushes/Shrubs/ Garden that run down the Elm St Ext. If you look at the uncropped Bothun Photo that shows the Umbrella Man & DCM sitting on the Elm St curb, in the background there is a Black Figure moving down the sidewalk that leads from the (E) pergola Shelter down to Elm St. This photo is roughly :45+ after the kill shot. You know how close that (E) pergola shelter and the sidewalk is to the Bushes/Shrubs/Garden. DPD Officer Smith running up the Elm St Ext  roughly:20 seconds after the kill shot, could have flushed this Black Figure out of the Bushes/Shrubs/Garden area into the (E) shelter/sidewalk. This (E) shelter/sidewalk area is Not where anyone would choose to watch the motorcade from. (The Bothun Photo is posted in this forum's "Photo Gallery")

The first close up doesn’t help much. I thought it looked better when I posted it. Here’s another one that includes other items that might help give some perspectives.



I will try to give a description that might also help. Brennan is squatting with his rear end basically sitting on his heels. His right arm is resting on his right knee. His left arm is up with his left hand shading his eyes from the light. We can see a rough outline of the shape of his helmet on his head. He appears to be looking at the sniper’s nest window; which is higher and to Dorman’s camera’s left.

In the full frame image, most people are looking towards the limo’s position further down Elm Street. But some are looking around. Tina Towner’s hair looks like she has just very quickly spun her head because it is flying outwards in all directions and hiding her face so that we cannot readily determine which direction her head is facing. I checked Dale Myers’ film synchronization timeline and this Dorman frame is just an instant before Z313.

[Royell Storing]

The first close up doesn’t help much. I thought it looked better when I posted it. Here’s another one that includes other items that might help give some perspectives.



I will try to give a description that might also help. Brennan is squatting with his rear end basically sitting on his heels. His right arm is resting on his right knee. His left arm is up with his left hand shading his eyes from the light. We can see a rough outline of the shape of his helmet on his head. He appears to be looking at the sniper’s nest window; which is higher and to Dorman’s camera’s left.

In the full frame image, most people are looking towards the limo’s position further down Elm Street. But some are looking around. Tina Towner’s hair looks like she has just very quickly spun her head because it is flying outwards in all directions and hiding her face so that we cannot readily determine which direction her head is facing. I checked Dale Myers’ film synchronization timeline and this Dorman frame is just an instant before Z313.

 
    Hard to tell if that is Brennan. I looked at the Sixth Floor Museum copy of the opening of the Darnell Film. Darnell pans down Houston St about :25 seconds after the kill shot. The people standing near the corner/water pool have changed over that time span.  A couple of frames show 2 figures down low alongside the water pool.

[Tom Graves]

 
Hard to tell if that is Brennan. I looked at the Sixth Floor Museum copy of the opening of the Darnell Film. Darnell pans down Houston St about :25 seconds after the kill shot. The people standing near the corner/water pool have changed over that time span.  A couple of frames show 2 figures down low alongside the water pool.

Dear Sonderführer Storing,

Maybe Brennan jumped into the reflecting pool!!!

-- Tom

[Dan O'meara]

The surprise ambush from above and behind was a very effective one then. Don’t you agree? However, there was at least one person who had it figured out. Here’s an image from Elsie Dorman’s film of what I believe is Howard Brennan’s squatting in the shadows of the wall he had been sitting on and looking up towards the sniper’s nest. This is just before LHO fired the third shot.

Here’s an image from Elsie Dorman’s film of what I believe is Howard Brennan’s squatting in the shadows of the wall he had been sitting on

Here's another still from the Dorman footage.
Who do you think the man on the wall is?
Santa?

[Charles Collins]

Here’s an image from Elsie Dorman’s film of what I believe is Howard Brennan’s squatting in the shadows of the wall he had been sitting on

Here's another still from the Dorman footage.
Who do you think the man on the wall is?
Santa?

That’s Howard Brennan of course. It is also before the first shot. We can see Rosemary running right by Brennan. The frame with Brennan crouching is significantly later. Plenty of time for Brennan to hop down.

[Royell Storing]

That’s Howard Brennan of course. It is also before the first shot. We can see Rosemary running right by Brennan. The frame with Brennan crouching is significantly later. Plenty of time for Brennan to hop down.

   Thanks for posting that Dorman still frame. On the Zapruder Film, the Willis Girl is wearing the top of her hoody over her head. I do not see her wearing that hood over her head on this Dorman still frame. The hood is bright white like the entire jacket is. If she is wearing that White Hood over her head on this Dorman still frame, it's bright color should match the rest of the jacket that we see. I do not see any of the white hood over the top of her head on this Dorman still frame. I also believe I am seeing her hair instead of that white top. What do you see when comparing the Willis Girl on this still frame to the Willis Girl we see on the Zapruder Film? She could have put the hood on while running, but that would be very unusual all by itself. Not to mention that the weather was extremely good at that point in time.

[Charles Collins]

   Thanks for posting that Dorman still frame. On the Zapruder Film, the Willis Girl is wearing the top of her hoody over her head. I do not see her wearing that hood over her head on this Dorman still frame. The hood is bright white like the entire jacket is. If she is wearing that White Hood over her head on this Dorman still frame, it's bright color should match the rest of the jacket that we see. I do not see any of the white hood over the top of her head on this Dorman still frame. I also believe I am seeing her hair instead of that white top. What do you see when comparing the Willis Girl on this still frame to the Willis Girl we see on the Zapruder Film? She could have put the hood on while running, but that would be very unusual all by itself. Not to mention that the weather was extremely good at that point in time.

It’s not a hoodie. It’s a scarf; a similar color to her jacket but not a part of the jacket like a hoodie. She is in Brennan’s shadow which makes a difference in the appearance due to reflected sunlight versus lack of reflected sunlight. I think that only the very top of the scarf is in direct sunlight in that Dorman frame. If you watch the Zapruder film, you might see a similar effect as she moves in and out of various shadows. It makes it quite difficult to say which way her head is facing at certain times.