Can you estimate for me the time interval between the first and the last shot?
Mr. O'BRIEN. I don't believe I can estimate the timing, but I can tell you about an exchange that took place in the car, from the first shot through the third shot.

Mr. Adams.

Please do.
Mr. O'BRIEN. The first shot was fired. I just didn't conclude it was rifle fire. I was completely unsure. And I must have almost immediately said to the driver--I directed the question to him, for some unknown reason--"What was that?" The driver replied, "I do not know. They must be giving him a 21-gun salute." By the time the driver had concluded that sentence, we did not hear explosion No. 4. And it was apparent to us that No. 1 was not a 21-gun salute. I believe everyone in the car concluded it wasn't, in any event, because it just was not that kind of a sound. And we just had no idea of what had occurred at that moment.

Mr. Adams.

Could you tell me your best recollection as to where the sounds appeared to come from?
Mr. O'BRIEN. I didn't have any idea specifically on the location of the sounds, and I do not recall that anyone in the car did.

Mr. Adams.

Is it your recollection that these sounds were evenly spaced?
Mr. O'BRIEN. That is my impression. As I say, I apparently immediately engaged the driver in conversation after the first shot which forces me to conclude that there had to be a time between the first and second and third shots--because I simply-- describing the exchange of my question and his answer, and his answer, I must say, probably was completed after the third shot. But he had started his answer to the question at about or just before the third shot.

Mr. Adams.

Well, one way of getting at the time interval of all three shots, I suppose, would be your recollection that it all was encompassed in the time it took you to ask the question and the driver to answer.
Mr. O'BRIEN. At least in the time that it took me to ask the question and the driver to initiate the answer, but perhaps not complete it.

Mr. Adams.

Then would it be fair to say it was a very small number of seconds?
Mr. O'BRIEN. It certainly would be. And I think the driver completed his answer--for 1 or 2 seconds all of us in the car were awaiting the fourth explosion, if I can term it that, which did not occur, and there was dead silence in the car.

Mr. Adams.

Then do you remember anything that anyone said immediately following the dead silence?
Mr. O'BRIEN. No; I do not recall. I recall that just prior to this, which indicates to me that perhaps we had turned that corner before the shots, Judge Thornberry pointed to a building and said that that was where his offices had been located at one time, either in military service or in government service, and pointing over in the direction of the building. We were turning the corner--and that took place before the shots.

Mr. Adams.

You don't happen to know the name of that building?
Mr. O'BRIEN. I don't recall. But he mentioned it in the term that he had been stationed in that building. Now, it could have been either a military activity or in government agency activity.

Mr. Adams.

How did the knowledge come to you that the President had been shot?
Mr. O'BRIEN. We noted, as the cars continued to move after the third shot, and there was a great deal of movement on both sides in front of us, scurrying in various directions.

Mr. Adams.

Scurrying by whom?
Mr. O'BRIEN. People on the street--the crowds had thinned out. There were people along the road.

Mr. Adams.

We didn't specifically cover this, but was there a motorcycle escort?
Mr. O'BRIEN. For the motorcade?

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