X Marks The Spot

[Mike Orr]

Did Oswalds pistol misfire when he was wrestling around with McDonald in the Texas Theatre ? Bent firing pin ?

[Andrew Mason]

Did Oswalds pistol misfire when he was wrestling around with McDonald in the Texas Theatre ? Bent firing pin ?

McDonald explained that he had his hand on the butt of the gun.  To fire the revolver, the hammer has to move back first and then move forward to have the firing pin strike the bullet primer.  It seems that his hand prevented the hammer from moving back which meant the gun could not fire.

[Zeon Mason]

So the vent window was open? Why didn’t the man just stick the pistol right thru the

[Zeon Mason]

… and shoot Tippet like a fish in a barrel?

[Richard Smith]

So the vent window was open? Why didn’t the man just stick the pistol right thru the

Note that this is a question that calls for speculation.  So the answer can't be dismissed as speculative by contrarians.  Here goes.  Tippit sees Oswald doing something suspicious that draws his attention.  What exactly we can't ever know but likely the typical tells of criminals on the run when encountered by the police.  Tippit takes notice and decides to pull over and check it out.  Probably not for any reason directly related to the assassination.  Just suspicious behavior.  He asks Oswald a few questions through the window and maybe asks to see his ID.  Oswald likely tries to bull his way out of the situation.  Having just assassinated the president and being concerned that he may already be a suspect in that crime can't ID himself to Tippit without fear of arrest.  This doesn't work.  Tippit decides to exit the car for further discussion.  Oswald can't risk the possibility that he has been identified as a suspect in the assassination.  He realizes then that he had no choice but to kill Tippit while he still has the element of surprise.

[Zeon Mason]

That’s a reasonable possibility Mr.Smith, except that Oswald could have still stuck the pistol thru the open vent window and shot Tippet as soon as it was apparent to Oswald that Tippet was suspicious by whatever Oswald might have said.

So it could be maybe the timing. Oswald (or other man) said something that caused Tippet such insult  that he opened his door so quickly that Oswald did not have time to pull out his pistol and fit it thru  the vent window( which was probably not open all the way enough anyway)

He might have also envisioned that Tippet might hit the gas and move the car suddenly before the man could get his pistol fit thru the vent window or would get his arm/hand stuck in the vent and be dragged down the street.

Id better stop now before I turn myself into an LN 😳

[Richard Smith]

That’s a reasonable possibility Mr.Smith, except that Oswald could have still stuck the pistol thru the open vent window and shot Tippet as soon as it was apparent to Oswald that Tippet was suspicious by whatever Oswald might have said.

So it could be maybe the timing. Oswald (or other man) said something that caused Tippet such insult  that he opened his door so quickly that Oswald did not have time to pull out his pistol and fit it thru  the vent window( which was probably not open all the way enough anyway)

He might have also envisioned that Tippet might hit the gas and move the car suddenly before the man could get his pistol fit thru the vent window or would get his arm/hand stuck in the vent and be dragged down the street.

Id better stop now before I turn myself into an LN 😳

Oswald was hoping to bull his way out of the situation without shooting Tippit.  Killing a police officer in broad daylight was something that was going to draw attention to him.  He wasn't going to do it unless there was no other option.  Once Tippit starts to exit the car, Oswald realizes that didn't work and he is not going to risk that he has already been identified as a suspect in the JFK assassination.  So he kills Tippit while he still has element of surprise.