The First Shot

[Jarrett Smith]

Dear danny BOY o'meara,

They probably thought Oswald's first, missing-everything, first shot (at "Z-124") was a firecracker, a backfire, a tire blowout, a distant thunderclap, or a last-call-for-alcohol at The Cellar and therefore mistakenly thought Oswald's second shot (at about Z-222) was his first shot.

I think that Oswald's first, missing-everything, shot was a second later than Max Holland does, but what he wrote about Altgens-6 in 2014 still applies:

Altgens' photo is equivalent to Zapruder frame 255, about two seconds after Oswald fired the second shot. The president can be seen reaching for his neck, where the bullet exited, with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's white-gloved hand supporting his left arm. Connally's head is turned 90 degrees, the same bullet having just penetrated his torso. Most spectators are still oblivious to what is happening. Only the police motorcyclists and the Secret Servicemen on the "Queen Mary" follow-up car are reacting to the moment. Three of the eight agents riding in the car — Jack Ready, Paul Landis and George Hickey — have turned their heads toward the source of the shot, while Clint Hill and William McIntyre are in the process of doing so, although Hill would never complete the motion. Seeing that the president was in distress, he leaped from the running board in a futile effort to cover the president's body with his own. Juxtapose Altgens' picture with frame 153 from the Zapruder film, taken an estimated two seconds after the traffic arm mast deflected the first shot. There is no sign of distress in the presidential limousine, and the spectators show no signs of concern. But look again at the Queen Mary. Though not all eight agents can be seen clearly, at least three of them — Ready, Hickey and Glen Bennett — are reacting to some unnatural stimulus. Ready's head is turned sharply to his left, although normal protocol called for him, as the president's body man, to keep his eyes on the quadrant to his right. Hickey, seated on the driver's side of the rear bench seat, is already rising and leaning over far to his left; in his statement, he said he thought someone had thrown a firecracker at the motorcade. Most telling, however, is the movement of Bennett. He can barely be glimpsed leaning to his right, straining to see around presidential aide Dave Powers and Secret Service agent Emory Roberts, seated directly in front of him. He was trying to "look at the Boss's car," he wrote in notes he jotted down while en route back to Washington, D.C., after the shooting. He saw Kennedy struck in the back by the second shot, and then in the head by the third bullet.

https://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/28/truth-behind-jfks-assassination-285653.html


-- Tom

Seeing that the president was in distress, he leaped from the running board in a futile effort to cover the president's body with his own.

Comrade, exactly when did Hill leap from the running board?