Jack Faulkner Larry Sneed University of North Texas Press Chapter View Citation
Additional Information In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:
JACK FAULKNER Deputy Sheriff Criminal Investigation Division Dallas County Sheriff's Department "We had many people inside the Texas School Book Depository tell us that those shots didn't come from that building. That was understandable since I have seen deer shot at and, not knowing which way the bullet came from, they would look all around not knowing which way to run. It's hard to determine where a shot comes from a rifle... " Born and raised in Dallas, Jack Faulkner lived next door to Bill Decker, who was elected sheriff of Dallas County in 1948. Faulkner then joined the sheriffs department on January 1, 1949. I was a criminal investigator working out of the sheriffs office downtown and was standing outside the office waiting to see the President, as were many of the other deputies, since the sheriffs department had no role in the security for the parade. This was not unusual since the Dallas police were responsible for events inside the city, while the sheriffs department dealt with matters outside the city, but still inside Dallas County. Much has been written about how unpopular John Kennedy was in Dallas, but as the Presidential parade came down Main Street right in front of the office where the deputies were standing, that obviously wasn't true because I saw the crowds
216 NO MORE SILENCE cheering him as he drove by. I certainly didn't see anybody that hated him. The sheriff was in the parade along with Chief Curry, who was driving and leading the parade. But, of course, everybody wanted to see the President of the United States. I recall very well Jackie wearing the pink outfit and the smiles that John Kennedy had when they turned the corner off Main onto Houston. It was all very inspiring!
When they turned back onto Elm Street and headed toward the Triple Underpass, then I heard three very distinct shots. I'll never forget the sequence: there was a pause between number one and number two, then number two and three were rapid. At that time, I actually thought that someone had attempted to shoot the President and possibly the Secret Service had shot back. It was that fast!
A.D. McCurley and myself moved down the knoll that's just west of Houston Street between Main and Elm Streets. People were pointing back toward the railroad yards, so we headed in that direction.
As we were crossing Elm Street, McCurley picked up a white piece of bone near the north curb. He asked me,
"Do you suppose that could be part of his skull?"
I said, "There's no blood on it," and he put it down. Later, we got to thinking, and somebody said your skull doesn't necessarily have to be touching something that's bloody. We went back and looked for it later but never found it. To this day, I believe it was a piece of John Kennedy's skull.
In any case, when we reached the grassy knoll, people were lying down trying to dodge the bullets.
There were quite a few people and officers searching the parking lot and going through railroad cars in the railroad yards, but of course, there was nothing. I really didn't do that myself. There was probably as much mass confusion as you can imagine because no one was in charge, but everyone was doing what they were trained to do. I know my partner, who was on the other side of the street, started gathering people to take statements.
We then went up in front of the Texas School Book Depository Building where a little black boy was telling a police sergeant that he had seen a man shoot out of that building. The sergeant then related that information to us. So Bill Wiseman, A.D. McCurley, Joe Lorraine, who had been a former deputy who worked for the State Labor Board, and I took it from there and went in the front door of the building. This was about ten minutes
JACK FAULKNER, SHERIFF'S DEPUTY 217 after the shooting. At that time, the building had not yet been sealed by the police. We contacted the manager who said,
"Well, everybody is still here that was here when the parade went through when the shooting occurred except Lee Oswald."
We then went up the freight elevator and began searching. I was expecting to see someone with a gun, so I had my gun out...
