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TESTIMONY
OF BOBBY W. HARGIS
The testimony of Bobby W. Hargis was taken at 3:20 p.m., on April 8,
1964, in the office of the
Mr. STERN. Will you stand, please.
Do
you solemnly swear that the evidence you are about to give shall be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr.
HARGIS. I do.
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Mr. STERN. Would you state
for the record your name and residence address.
Mr. HARGIS. Bobby W. Hargis,
1818
Mr. STERN. What is your
occupation?
Mr. HARGIS. Police officer.
Mr.
STERN. How long have you been a member of the Dallas Police Department?
Mr. HARGIS. Nine years and
about 7 months.
Mr. STERN. And you are now a
member of the motorcycle---
Mr. HARGIS. Division.
Mr. STERN. Division?
Mr. HARGIS. Yes.
Mr. STERN. Were you a part of the motorcade on November 22d?
Mr. HARGIS. Yes; I was.
Mr. STERN. In what position?
Mr. HARGIS. I was at the left-hand side of the Presidential limousine.
Mr. STERN. At what part of the President's car?
Mr. HARGIS. Well---
Mr. STERN. Front, or rear?
Mr. HARGIS. Oh. Rear.
Mr. STERN. Riding next to Mrs. Kennedy?
Mr. HARGIS. Right.
Mr.
STERN. Will you describe what occurred or what you observed as the limousine
turned into
Mr. HARGIS. Well, at the time that the limousine turned left on
Mr. STERN. On Governor Connally's?
Mr.
HARGIS. Yes; that is why I thought
Governor Connally had been shot first, but it looked like the President was
bending over to hear what he had to say, and I thought to myself then that
Governor Connally, the Governor had been hit, and then as the President raised
back up like that (indicating) the shot that killed him hit him.
I don't know whether it was the second or the third shot. Everything
happened so fast.
Mr. STERN. But, you cannot now recall more than two shots?
Mr.
HARGIS. That is all that I can recall remembering. Of course, everything was
moving so fast at the time that there could have been 30 more shots that I
probably never would have noticed them.
Mr.
STERN. Did something happen to you, personally in connection with the shot you
have just described?
Mr. HARGIS. You mean about the blood hitting me?
Mr. STERN. Yes.
Mr.
HARGIS. Yes; when President Kennedy
straightened back up in the car the bullet him in the head, the one that killed
him and it seemed like his head exploded, and I was splattered with blood and
brain, and kind of a bloody water.
It wasn't really blood. And at that time the Presidential car slowed
down. I heard somebody say,
"Get going," or "get going,"----
Mr. STERN. Someone inside---
Mr. HARGIS. I don't know whether it was the Secret Service car, and I
remembered seeing Officer Chaney. Chaney put his motor in' first gear and
accelerated up to the front to tell them to get everything out of the way, that
he was coming through, and that is when the Presidential limousine shot off, and
I stopped and got off my motorcycle and ran to the right-hand side of the
street, behind the light pole.
Mr. STERN. Just a minute.
Do you recall your impression at the time regarding the source of the
shots?
Mr.
HARGIS. Well, at the time it sounded like the shots were right next to me. There
wasn't any way in the world I could tell where they were coming from, but at the
time there was something in my head that said that they probably
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could
have been coming from the railroad overpass, because I thought since I had got
splattered, with blood---I was just a little back and left of---just a little
bit back and left of Mrs. Kennedy, but I didn't know.
I had a feeling that it might have been from the
Mr. STERN. You were clear that the sounds were sounds of shots?
Mr. HARGIS. Yes sir; I knew they were shots.
Mr.
STERN. All right, what did you do then? You
say you parked your motorcycle?
Mr. HARGIS. Yes, uh-huh---
Mr. STERN. Where?
Mr.
HARGIS. It was to the left-hand side of the street from---south side of
Mr. STERN. And then what did you do?
Mr.
HARGIS. I ran across the street looking over towards the railroad overpass and I
remembered seeing people scattering and running and then I looked---
Mr. STERN. People on the overpass?
Mr. HARGIS. Yes; people that were there to see the President I guess.
They were taking pictures and things. It was kind of a confused crowd. I don't
know whether they were trying to hide or see what was happening or what--and
then I looked over to the
Mr. STERN. How about the people on the incline on the north side of
Mr.
HARGIS. Yes; I remember a man holding a child. Fell to the ground and covered
his child with his body, and people running everywhere, trying to get out of
there, I guess, and they were about as confused as to where the shots were
coming from as everyone else was.
Mr. STERN. And did you run up the incline on your side of
Mr.
HARGIS. Yes, sir; I ran to the light post, and I ran up to this kind of a little
wall, brick wall up there to see if I could get a better look on the bridge,
and, of course, I was looking all around that place by that time.
I knew it couldn't have come from the county courthouse because that
place was swarming with deputy sheriffs over there.
Mr. STERN. Did you get behind the picket fence that runs from the
overpass to the concrete wall?
Mr. HARGIS. No.
Mr. STERN. On the north side of
Mr. HARGIS. No, no; I don't remember any picket fence.
Mr.
STERN. Did you observe anything then on the overpass, or on the incline, or
around the Depository? Anything out
of the ordinary besides people running?
Mr. HARGIS. No; I didn't. That is what got me.
Mr. STERN. So, at that point you were still uncertain as to the direction
of the shots?
Mr. HARGIS. Yes, uh-huh.
Mr. STERN. Then, what did you do?
Mr. HARGIS. Well, then, I
thought since I had looked over at the Texas Book Depository and some people
looking out of the windows up there, didn't seem like they knew what was going
on, but none of them were looking towards, or near anywhere the shots had been
fired from. At the time I didn't
know, but about the only activity I could see was on the bridge, on the railroad
bridge so---
Mr. STERN. What sort of activity was that?
Mr.
HARGIS. Well, the people that were up there were just trying to get a better
look at what was happening and was in a haze and running, or in a confused
fashion, and I thought maybe some of them had seen who did the shooting and the
rifle.
Mr. STERN. Then what did you do?
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Mr.
HARGIS. Then I got back on my motorcycle, which was still running, and rode
underneath the first underpass to look on the opposite side in order to see if I
could see anyone running away from the scene, and since I didn't see anyone
coming from that direction I rode under the second underpass, which is Stemmons
Expressway and went up around to see if I could see anyone coming from across
Stemmons and back that way, and I couldn't see anything that was of a suspicious
nature, so, I came back to the Texas School Book Depository.
At that time it seemed like the activity was centered around the Texas
School Book Depository, so, that is when I heard someone say, one of the
sergeants or lieutenants, I don't know, "Don't let anyone out of the Texas
School Book Depository," and so, I went to a gap that had not been filled,
which was at the southwest corner.
Mr. STERN. And you remained there until you were relieved?
Mr. HARGIS Yes.
Mr. STERN. Anything else that you haven't told us that you think is
relevant to our inquiry?
Mr. HARGIS. No; I don't believe so.
Mr. STERN. Thank you very much, Mr. Hargis.
The reporter will transcribe your testimony and have it available for you
to read and sign if you care to. Otherwise,
you may waive your right to review and sign the testimony and she will mail it
direct to the Commission, whichever you prefer. It is entirely your option.
Mr. HARGIS. Well; it really doesn't make any difference. It is more or
less what you all think is best.
Mr. STERN. It's entirely up to you.
Mr. HARGIS. Well, how long will it be until she fixes it up?
Mr. STERN. Well, off the record. (Discussion off the record.)
Mr. STERN. On the record.
Mr.
HARGIS. All right. Well, just go ahead and I will just let you go ahead and send
it in without the signature.
Mr.
STERN. Thank you very much, Mr. Hargis. I can be reached for Questions, Comments, Files Transfers or, Clarifications at the following e-mail address.
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