(Testimony of Eugene Boone)
Mr. Boone.
Houston Street. And we heard what we thought to be a shot. And there seemed to be a pause between the first shot and the second shot and third shots--a little longer pause. And we raced across the street there.
Mr. Ball.
You raced across what street?
Mr. Boone.
Houston Street.
Mr. Ball.
You turned to your right and went west?
Mr. Boone.
Well, there is a big cement works out there. We went on west across Houston Street, and then cut across the grass out there behind the large cement works there. Some of the bystanders over there seemed to think the shots came from up over the railroad in the freight yards, from over the triple underpass.
So there was some city officer, I don't know who he was, motorcycle officer had laid his motorcycle down and was running up the embankment to get over a little retaining wall that separates the freight yards there. He went over the wall first, and I was right behind him, going into the freight yards. We searched out the freight yards. We were unable to find anything.
Mr. Ball.
A good many officers over there searching?
Mr. Boone.
Yes; there were. Most all of the officers--well, all of the officers in front of the sheriff's office there. There were others that I don't recall. There were other officers in the area. Also, they all ran in that general direction, over around the depository and also down into the freight yards.
Mr. Ball.
Any railroad employees around there?
Mr. Boone.
There was one colored boy way on back down in the freight yards. He had been working on one of the pullmans down there.
Mr. Ball.
And didn't you talk to somebody that was also in a tower?
Mr. Boone.
Yes; I did.
Mr. Ball.
A man named Bowers?
Mr. Boone.
I don't know what his name was. He was up in the tower and I hollered up there to see if he had seen anybody running out there in the freight yards, or heard any shots. And he said he didn't hear any shots, and he hadn't seen anybody racing around out there in the yard.
Mr. Ball.
That was a railroad tower?
Mr. Boone.
Yes; it is situated between the tracks and the school book depository. Almost directly west of the building.
Mr. Ball.
After that, what did you do?
Mr. Boone.
Well, I finally went around and was talking to some of the spectators that were in the area there, located a boy by the name of Betzer. He had taken what he thought was some photographs, or there were photo-graphs--he thought he might have had a portion of the building.
Later on we were able to ascertain that the shots had come from the building, from that southeast corner over there. And he had some photographs, but they didn't extend past the second floor on the building.
Mr. Ball.
Did you go up into the building then?
Mr. Boone.
I took him on over to the sheriff's office, and placed him in the sheriff's office, took his camera, to bring it back to the ID Bureau to be developed. Placed him in the sheriff's office at that time to await somebody to take a statement from him.
Then some other officers, Ralph Walters and Officer Gramstaff, and I don't know whether--I don't remember Officer Mooney was with them or not at that time they headed back to get some heavy power flashlights. They said they wanted to look around in the attic. And there were a bunch of pallets, that they moved the books around, and it was dark and they couldn't see. So we got the lights and went over to the building.
At that time, we proceeded directly to the sixth floor.
Mr. Ball.
Somebody tell you to go to the sixth floor?
Mr. Boone.
Well, that is just where everybody was going. And they said five floors below that--I believe Inspector Sawyer with the city was out there, and he said the other floors were in the process of being searched or had been already searched. This was after Officer Mooney found the shells.
Mr. Ball.
Did somebody tell you Officer Mooney had found some shells?
Mr. Boone.
Not him in particular. They said the shells had been found on the sixth floor. At that time, I didn't know he had found them.
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