Was Hickey's AR15 in burst mode?

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

In the pix we can see that a hollow point handgun slug goes throo a windshield & then veers quickly in the gel.
There is lots of youtube footage that shows that hollow point slugs fired from rifles dont veer very far in gel (compared to FMJ ordinary slugs), but the veer of a hollow point will be larger in a skull, having firstly passed throo bone (ie in a similar way to the slug that firstly passed throo the windshield in the pix below).  Hence the slug remnant in the JFK headshot could have veered enough (say 10deg)(i haven't done exact calculations but might tomorrow) to crack the windshield on the JFK limo. This is a printscreen pix of a youtube, there is tonnes of this stuff on youtube.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Here is Hickey's 3 shot burst in another view.
The bottom star is the pozzy of JFK's headshot (49" above the cross painted on the road).
The top star is where a shot hit the Main St tarmac, & then ricocheted into the curb 23'4" from the pier.
The mid star represents the shot that dented the chrome trim of the windshield above the mirror.
As can be seen the 3 stars showing the 3 shots are impressively close together, however that is a 3D error.  The pix here is a printscreen from the youtube footage shown at the top of page 1.  This footage was taken with a camera mounted on the top of the windshield of the limo, & thusly Hickey's AR15 had a view from higher up & a little left.  Hence a true set of 3 stars drawn on a true view would be spread out both vertically & horizontally compared to what is shown in the pix.  Because we all know by now that the shot that dented the chrome was well left of the shot that hit JFK's head.


https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNvDrUMWCuxLawv1sM-4_z2zfS2QVjBtvM-TpH2FkFefO4HxyPmNcflDerWhhEyKg/photo/AF1QipO5hyjLY6LfkH9taX9jkRxM3q7Q1xw-e1IFxEEZ?key=YVBxT0FKMldWT0FBaWh3LWJTZWg0M28tVVZCNDFR

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

The youtube footage is 0:14 long & shows a single shot (notice the smoke) & a few 3-shot bursts (lots of smoke).
Some AR-15 3 round burst fun going CRAZY!  ….. 6,963 views …•Jul 10, 2017 …SHOOTRIDELIVE
Hickey's AR15 might have had 3 modes, SINGLE -- BURST -- AUTO. I dont remember. It was a long time ago.
There are youtubes of auto bursts of 6 shots or more.  A 6-shot burst sounds similar to a 3-shot burst, but modern AR15 autos fire at i think 12 rps compared to the oldendays 6.7 rps.
I dont rule out the possibility that Hickey used auto, in which case he might have fired 4 shots, or more.  Actually 4 shots is very appealing, it allows an extra shot that hits the tarmac of Elm Street (as seen by Skelton), in addition to one shot hitting the tarmac of Mains St (& of course one hit the chrome trim, & one hit JFK).

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

I calculate that the needed veer in JFK's skull is 11.4deg.
That is the needed exit angle from the skull (or i should say the needed veer angle tween entry & exit) for the remnant slug to crack the windshield.  This is based on the glass impact being 7" left of center,  the JFK impact being 9" right of center, & the AR15 being 9" left of center.  Distance glass to JFK is 115.4",  JFK to AR15 is 297".  This ignores the vertical angle from the AR15 to JFK (5.21% grade)(which is shown in the pix below).  The glass impact (49.6"above road) is almost exactly at the same level as the JFK impact (49" above road).  The glass impact was 1" above the center of the windshield, & 7" left of center. 

These offsets & angles look reasonable to me, & i think that 11.4deg is possible. A hollow point slug has very little veer in ballistic gel, but as i pointed out yesterday a hollow point can have a large quick veer if it passes throo an angled windshield before the gel, or in the present case angled bone.

If Queen Mary was not exactly in line with the JFK limo (ie exactly behind)(horizontally speaking) then that would increase or decrease that there 11.4deg.  If Queen Mary were 18" right of the JFK limo then the AR15 might be directly behind JFK (JFK is 9" off center) in which case the needed veer for the remnant slug would be 6.5deg.
I did see mention that Queen Mary had swerved across to the right at about the time of the head-shot, & that it was for a while right of the JFK limo, but i havent looked into that stuff. I can add that if Queen Mary is at an angle to the JFK limo then that would place the AR15 further right which would reduce the needed veer or it would place the AR15 further left which would increase the needed veer.
[edit][see #19 for corrected angles][see #37 for corrected angles].

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Roy H. Kellerman, Special Agent, Secret Service, sitting in the front passenger seat in the JFK limo, said at the Warren Commission that the fatal head-shot was shot-2, & that shot-2 was a part of a flurry of at least 2 almost simultaneous shots.   The word flurry (ie an auto burst) came up 22 times during Kellerman's testimony.  Here are some snippets. 
https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/kellerma.htm
Mr. KELLERMAN. Yes. Good. There was enough for me to verify that the man was hit. So, in the same motion I come right back and grabbed the speaker and said to the driver, "Let's get out of here; we are hit," and grabbed the mike and I said, "Lawson, this is Kellerman,"--this is Lawson, who is in the front car. "We are hit; get us to the hospital immediately." Now, in the seconds that I talked just now, a flurry of shells come into the car. I then looked back and this time Mr. Hill, who was riding on the left front bumper of our followup car, was on the back trunk of that car; the President was sideways down into. the back seat.
Mr. KELLERMAN. But after the flurry of shots, I recall her saying, "What are they doing to you?" Now again, of course, my comparison of the voice of her speech--certainly, I have heard it many times, and in the car there was conversation she was carrying on through shock, I am sure.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, in your prior testimony you described a flurry of shells into the car. How many shots did you hear after the first noise which you described as sounding like a firecracker?
Mr. KELLERMAN. Mr. Specter, these shells came in all together.
Mr. SPECTER. Are you able to say how many you heard?
Mr. KELLERMAN. I am going to say two, and it was like a double bang--bang, bang.
Mr. SPECTER. You mean now two shots in addition to the first noise?
Mr. KELLERMAN. Yes, sir; yes, sir; at least.
Mr. KELLERMAN. Let me give you an illustration, sir, before I can give you an answer. You have heard the sound barrier, of a plane breaking the sound barrier, bang, bang? That is it.
Mr. KELLERMAN. Our car accelerated immediately on the time-at the time--this flurry of shots came into it.
Mr. SPECTER. Can you describe the sound of the flurry of shots by way of distinction with the way you have described the sound of the first shot?
Mr. KELLERMAN. Well, having heard all types of guns fired, most of them, rather, if I recall correctly these were two sharp reports, sir. Again, I am going to refer to it as like a plane going through a sound barrier; bang, bang.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, you are referring to the flurry?
Mr. KELLERMAN. That is right.
Mr. SPECTER. Did it sound differently from the first noise you have described as being a firecracker?
Mr. KELLERMAN. Yes; definitely; very much so.
Mr. SPECTER. You have testified about the impression you had as to the source of the first shot, which sounded to you like a firecracker. Did you have any impression as to the source of the other shots, which you described as being a flurry?.................
Mr. SPECTER. The question which I had then started to ask you was whether you had any impression at the time of the second and third shots, which you described as a flurry of shots, as to the point of origin or source of those shots.
Mr. KELLERMAN. The only answer I can give to that is that they would have to come from the rear.
Mr. SPECTER. Well, is that the impression or reaction you had at the time of the flurry?
Mr. KELLERMAN. That is right, sir.

Kellerman's testimony covered his needs, (1) there was no very early shot (a very early shot would require an explanation of why no early action had been taken), (2) there were 3 shots (this made everyone happy), (3) there were at least 3 shots, including a flurry of shots, & the flurry sounded different (hence Kellerman wouldnt look silly if the truth ever came out that Hickey fired).

Greer the driver mentioned in effect an almost simultaneous burst, & concussion (the AR15 muzzle was 28ft from his earhole, & aiming say 20" right of his earhole)(& a 3-shot burst would have 3 times the concussion).

Mr. SPECTER. To the best of your ability to recollect and estimate, how much time elapsed from the first noise which you have described as being similar to the backfire of a motor vehicle until you heard the second noise?
Mr. GREER. It seems a matter of seconds, I really couldn't say. Three or four seconds.
Mr. SPECTER. How much time elapsed, to the best of your ability to estimate and recollect, between the time of the second noise and the time of the third noise?
Mr. GREER. The last two seemed to be just simultaneously, one behind the other, but I don't recollect just how much, how many seconds were between the two. I couldn't really say.
Mr. SPECTER. Describe as best you can the types of sound of the second report, as distinguished from the first noise which you said was similar to a motorcycle backfire?
Mr. GREER. The second one didn't sound any different much than the first one but I kind of got, by turning around, I don't know whether I got a little concussion of it, maybe when it hit something or not, I may have gotten a little concussion that made me think there was something different to it. But so far as the noise is concerned, I haven't got any memory of any difference in them at all.


Mary Moorman was the closest spectator, she heard a 3 or 4 shot burst.
"No, I didn’t. There was, oh, three or four real close together, and it must have been the first one that shot him, because that was the time I took the picture, and it was during that time after I took the picture, and the shots were still being fired, I decided I better get on the ground. . . . I was no more than fifteen foot from the car and in line of fire evidently."

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

At 14:47 of the 21:37 long youtube "1964 secret service film (jfk assassination reconstruction)" the SS show that JFK's head was a little left of center when the fatal head-shot happened, as shown in the printscreen pix below.  They used Queen Mary (the Cadillac limo that Hickey was actually in) for their footage, ie they didnt use JFK's Lincoln Continental.  That new info re the pozzy of JFK's head changes the needed angles, yesterday when i did my calcs (see #17) i had assumed that JFK's head was 6" or 9" right of center, & that the remnant slug had to veer 10deg or even 11.4deg.
The corrected calcs give a needed veer of only 6deg inside the skull to then hit the windshield at the necessary point.
This 6deg is based on Hickey's AR15 being 9" left of center, JFK's head 0" off center, & the impact on the windshield 7" left of center.  In my pix the Secret Service had naturally showed the crosshair view seen by Oswald, but Hickey was standing or half-standing in the left rear seat of the followup car (Queen Mary).  And the AR15 didnt have a scope.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Agent Youngblood saw a grayish blur in the air above JFK's limo.
"We had straightened on Elm now and were beginning to move easily down the incline in the wake of the cars ahead. Suddenly there was an explosive noise--distinct, sharp, resounding. Nothing that could be mistaken for the incessant popping and backfiring of the motorcycles, but in the instant I heard it I could not be certain if it had been a firecracker, bullet, bomb or some other explosive. I looked around quickly but saw nothing to indicate its source. But the movements in the President's car were not normal. Kennedy seemed to be falling to his left and there was sudden movement among the agents in the car directly ahead of us. I turned instinctively in my seat and with my left hand I grasped Lyndon Johnson's right shoulder and with all the leverage I could exert from a sitting position I forced him downward. "Get down!" I shouted. "Get down!" The vice-president reacted immediately. Still not seeing the source of the explosion, I swung across the back seat and sat on top of him. There were two more explosions in rapid succession, only seconds after the first. From my crouched position I saw a grayish blur in the air above the right side of the President's car. George Hickey, standing in the follow-up car just ahead of us, was poised with the AR-15 rifle, swinging back toward the building we had just passed. People along the sides of the street were scattering in panic."

I reckon that Hickey never swung his AR15 towards the TSBD. Earlier he had swung around & looked in that direction, he then picked up the AR15 & stood up to swing around, at which time Queen Mary braked & Hickey stumbled forward onto Donnelly, & he accidentally squeezed the trigger firing an auto burst, & after releasing the trigger he fell back to his original half sitting half standing pozzy in the back seat, &, shocked, he lost interest in any snipers for a few seconds, & by then Queen Mary was accelerating out of Dealey Plaza.

Young Rosemary Willis saw the smoke & the fragments meet in the air.
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPoMuaSnDAzApynTFe8JHHAORuPj6MAsjBu5M7j

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/uzLZuje-8XnbHTzbmFyrltrR9dCGQ7_WnmBTqqmaLDQNebCQYqqV3F8sY-GCiQ-1U27N1FA_EBzyA_fJdxiDa19aLVv7JANDobMUXf2MfW3PjcS4bGMEfxiBkrUV3ANrFw=w1280