Tippit Shooting 1:15-1:16

[Tom Graves]

Gil Jesus provides a detailed explanation of the confusion surrounding the shells here:
https://gil-jesus.com/the-tippit-shells/

It is a mess.

"Gil Jesus" is a beloved-by-Putin mess.

[Tim Nickerson]

-- Initially, the murder weapon was firmly identified as an automatic pistol, not Oswald's revolver. The person who identified the weapon as an automatic pistol was a Marine combat veteran and an experienced policeman, Sgt. Gerald Hill. Hill based his automatic-pistol identification on the shell casings. As any firearms expert can attest, it is very easy to distinguish between automatic shells and revolver shells. Additionally, in a 1986 interview, Hill said he knew the shells were .38-caliber shells because he picked one of them up and examined it. This is significant because .38 automatic shells are marked ".38 AUTO" on the bottom. Hill specifically said he looked on the bottom of the shell that he examined. It is no wonder, then, that Hill got on the radio and said, "the shells at the scene indicate that the suspect is armed with an automatic .38."

In an Oral History interview by Wes Wise and Bob Porter on August 31, 1993, Jerry Hill said that his misidentification of the gun as an automatic was based on the fact that the shells were found there at the scene. It was a false assumption on his part. He referred to the two Benavides shells in the singular. He said that he did not look at the butt end of the shell.

https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/4669/gerald-jerry-l-hill-oral-history

15:00

[Michael Capasse]

yet, it sounds like he looked right at them:

“the shells at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic 38 rather than a pistol.”
  Ducks in a row; thirty years too late

[Tim Nickerson]

yet, it sounds like he looked right at them:

“the shells at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic 38 rather than a pistol.”
  Ducks in a row; thirty years too late

What he was saying is that the shells being at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic rather than a pistol. The suspect was armed with neither. He was armed with a revolver.

[Michael Capasse]

What he was saying is that the shells being at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic rather than a pistol. The suspect was armed with neither. He was armed with a revolver.

  He claimed that he saw “38” and assumed they were automatics.
A .38 special shell and a .38 automatic are clearly stamped

[Tim Nickerson]

He claimed that he saw “38” and assumed they were automatics.
A .38 special shell and a .38 automatic are clearly stamped

He never claimed that he saw "38".

[Michael Capasse]

“the shells at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic 38 rather than a pistol.”

[Tim Nickerson]

“the shells at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic 38 rather than a pistol.”

Again, he never said that he saw "38". He saw  the shells. They looked like they were .38s. They were not. They were .38 Specials.