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 to Mexico City in the hopes of somehow gaining entrance to Cuba where travel has been banned from the United States. September 24–28, 1963: President Kennedy embarks on an eleven-state conservation tour which include visits to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Utah, Oregon, California, and Nevada. September 24, 1963: At a press conference in Austin, Texas, Governor Connally announces he will visit Washington DC from October 2–4, 1963 and he hopes to see the President but he has no plans to invite him to visit Texas but that he would be delighted if he came. The decision