Assassination of John F. Kennedy President Kennedy as his motorcade continued down Elm Street. About 80% of the witnesses recalled hearing three shots. A minority of the witnesses recognized the first gunshot they heard as weapon fire, but there was hardly any reaction to the first shot from a majority of the people in the crowd or those riding in the motorcade. Many bystanders later said that they heard what they first thought to either be a firecracker or the backfire of one of the vehicles shortly after the President had begun waving. Although some close witnesses recalled seeing the limousine slow down, nearly stop,
Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination is reached this evening by the White House to accept the invitation to the Albert Thomas dinner in Houston and turn it into a 2 day political trip encompassing all the major cities of Texas. Although Kennedy had wanted to visit Texas at some point, he had not planned to go at this particular time. But because of the invitation to speak at the Appreciation Dinner in Houston for Albert Thomas on November 21, 1963, the President decided to time his visit to Texas around that event instead of at some later date. September 25, 1963: Late that evening White