The First Shot

[John Corbett]

You are right about the timing of the shot that went through JFK's throat but wrong about the sequence. That was the second shot and it went on to pass through JBC as well. JBC was
adamant to his dying day that he had heard a shot before than one that struck him. He is seen turning to look over his right shoulder in reaction to the first shot at Z164.

My own belief is the shot struck at Z222 but since JFK was hidden from view and we only have the reactions of JFK, JBC, and Zapruder to tell us when the shot struck, it is impossible to say precisely when the bullet actually struck JFK. Either Z222 or Z223 could be correct.

Zapruder's camera jiggle in reaction to the headshot, which we can pinpoint, came five frames after JFK's head exploded. Since the distance from the rifle to Zapruder's ears was a constant for all three shots, we should expect a similar reaction time. Zapruder's camera jiggle following the single bullet was at Z227. Going back five frames takes us to Z222. However, it is unlikely the number of elapsed frames from when the bullet was fired until Zapruder reacted is going to be an integer. Maybe the reaction time measured in elapsed frames was actually 4.75 or 5.64 or somewhere else in that approximate time frame. It isn't necessary to pinpoint the exact frame the bullet struck. The simultaneous reaction of JFK and JBC when both men flipped their arms upward would likely have occurred 3-4 frames after the two men were struck.