Mr. Dulles.

Could you tell at all whether the sound came from above you?

Mr. Lawson.

No; I could not. It was quite a general loud bang, an echoing-type bang.

Representative Ford.

At the time of the sound you were within 15 or 20 feet of the overpass approximately?

Mr. Lawson.

I was quite close to the overpass, yes, sir; but 1 don't know exactly how dose.

Representative Ford.

You are sure that the sound didn't come from the overpass?

Mr. Lawson.

I am in my own mind that it didn't. It came from behind me. then I heard two more sharp reports, the second two were closer together than the first. There was one report, and a pause, then two more reports closer together, two and three were closer together than one and two.

Mr. Stern.

What else did you observe when you looked back?

Representative Ford.

May I ask a question here. Had you turned around by the time the second and third shots had been fired?

Mr. Lawson.

Yes; I had.

Representative Ford.

Did you get an impression from where they came?

Mr. Lawson.

Again just behind me is the only impression I got, but in relation to behind me. where I do not know.

Representative Ford.

Certainly not in front of you?

Mr. Lawson.

No.

Mr. Stern.

You were in a closed car?

Mr. Lawson.

Yes; 1 was. The windows were open.

Mr. Stern.

And you were on the right-hand side in the front?

Mr. Lawson.

The right-hand side; yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles.

Could you see the President's car when you looked back?

Mr. Lawson.

Not that first time. As I looked back I looked fight straight and saw the grassy median. Then the second and third shots, reports, I noticed the President's car back there, but I also noticed right after the reports an agent standing up with an automatic weapon in his hand, and the first thing that flashed through my mind, this was the only weapon I had seen, was that he had fired because this was the only weapon I had seen up to that time.
The events after that are a little bit jumbled, but I recall seeing Agent Hill on the rear of the President's car receiving a radio message that we should proceed to the nearest hospital. The nearest hospital was a continuation of our route.

Mr. Stern.

Did you know that or were you told that?

Mr. Lawson.

I knew that. Let me make a correction. I don't know if it was the nearest hospital, but I knew that it would be the fastest one that we could get to under the circumstances of where we were going under this freeway.

Mr. Stern.

Did you know as part of your preparation or did you merely observe it in the arrangements you were making?

Mr. Lawson.

I had observed this from all the times I had passed the hospital going over the route; yes, sir.

Mr. Stern.

But it is not ordinarily a part of your advance work, or is it,' to locate hospitals?

Mr. Lawson.

This is not a part of our report, but quite often in my own report in other times I have listed hospitals and so forth, bed facilities in some of my other reports. I did not in this case, but I had noted this hospital.

Mr. Stern.

But it is something you pay attention to yourself?

Mr. Lawson.

Yes, sir; it is. Again we depend upon the police knowing the city even better naturally than the advance agent to get us to a hospital depending where we are or anything like that, that would occur.

Mr. Dulles.

What was the lead car doing at this time?

Mr. Lawson.

The car that I was in, sir?

Mr. Dulles.

I thought you were in the second car.

Mr. Stern.

The pilot car.

Mr. Dulles.

The pilot car, not the lead car.

Mr. Lawson.

The pilot car was up ahead of us, so appeared other things I recall noting a police officer pulled up in a motorcycle alongside of us, and mentioned that the President had been hit.