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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XII - Page 20« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Assistant Chief Charles Batchelor)

Mr. Griffin.
Did you hear Ruby say anything at that point?
Chief BATCHELOR. No, sir.
Mr. Griffin.
Did you hear any of the police officers say anything?
Chief BATCHELOR. No, sir; not when I walked right up there to it. But I did hear someone shout, "Jack, don't you so-and-so," but this was before they got him down. I mean, this was almost simultaneous with the shot.
Mr. Griffin.
Did you follow Ruby and Oswald into the jail office then?
Chief BATCHELOR. After a little bit, a minute or two after, I remained in the jail office and asked Lieutenant Wiggins if they had called an ambulance, and he said they had. I walked over and looked at Oswald, and this intern had come in and was giving him some pressure on his lower rib section.
Mr. Griffin.
Where did you see Ruby at that time?
Chief BATCHELOR. I saw him on the floor. I couldn't see him too well. There was several men on top. He was still struggling in the jail office, but they had already gotten the gun away from him and they were trying to get him hand-

cuffed and get him down and laying still, but he was fighting them.
Mr. Griffin.
Did you hear him say anything ?
Chief BATCHELOR. No; I don't recall anything he said.
Mr. Griffin.
Did you hear the officers say anything to him?
Chief BATCHELOR. No.
Mr. Griffin.
How long did you remain there?
Chief BATCHELOR. Just a few minutes. The ambulance came almost immediately. It was just--I walked out of there before the ambulance came and walked back. Someone shouted right after this happened, and there was a lot of confusion, and someone shouted, "Don't let anybody out."
There were a bunch of reporters that started running like they were frightened. I suppose they were running to telephones, but they tried to run up the Main Street ramp, and I remember very clearly the officer at the top of the ramp pulling his gun and said, "Get back down."
They turned around and walked back down, but most of them escaped through the corridor. Not out the ramp, but went out through the corridor.
Mr. Griffin.
This is the corridor that leads from the record room to Commerce Street?
Chief BATCHELOR. Well, yes. They escaped out the corridor off the hallway that leads in front of the jail office into the Records Bureau, and then to Commerce Street.
Mr. Griffin.
Did they escape out Commerce Street?
Chief BATCHELOR. I don't know where they went from there, whether they went upstairs to use the telephone, or out in the street. But there would have been nobody over there that heard the command not to let them out. This was kind of a spontaneous command.
Mr. Griffin.
What percentage of people would you say got out of the basement? News media people got out of the basement that way?
Chief BATCHELOR. I don't know. They scattered pretty quickly. Still a lot hung around after it was over. I would say half, at least, got out that way.
Mr. Griffin.
Now, were you in the jail office when Ruby was taken upstairs in the elevator?
Chief BATCHELOR. Was I in the jail office when he was taken upstairs?
Mr. Griffin.
Yes.
Chief BATCHELOR. No, sir.
Mr. Griffin.
Whore were you?
Chief BATCHELOR. I went as soon as the ambulance came and got him, I ran up the ramp and told him to get that truck out of there, that it was blocking the entrance to the ramp, and then I left and went upstairs and told Chief Curry what happened. By the time I got up there, somebody called him and he knew what happened.
Mr. Griffin.
What did you do next?
Chief BATCHELOR. Lord, I don't remember what I did next. We sat there kind of dumbfounded for a while.
Mr. Griffin.
Did there come a time during the rest of the day when you talked with Ruby?
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