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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. VII - Page 478« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Earle Cabell)

Mr. Cabell.
the city secretary, the supervisor of public utilities, and the city auditor, the city auditor being nominated by the Dallas Clearing House Association.
Mr. Hubert.
I understand then that the chief of police is appointed by the city manager completely?
Mr. Cabell.
That is correct; and is responsible only to the city manager.
Mr. Hubert.
Does the city council or mayor confirm the appointees of the city manager? What authority do they have?
Me. CABELL They confirm by virtue of approval of the budget wherein their salaries are stipulated and they are named.
Mr. Hubert.
But it is not an appointment such as with Federal officials where the President appoints and the city confirms?
Mr. Cabell.
No.
Mr. Hubert.
Now I want to ask you to state what you observed concerning the actual shooting of the President, and perhaps the best way to start is to tell us what position you were in in the Presidential parade.
Mr. Cabell.
We were separated from the President's car by the car in which the Vice President and Senator Yarborough were riding, and by a station wagon holding, I think, certain members of the press and possibly some Secret Service, and I believe one other car of Secret Service so there were either two or three intervening cars between our place in the motorcade and the Presidential car.
Mr. Hubert.
Who was in your car other than the driver?
Mr. Cabell.
Mrs. Cabell and Congressman Ray Roberts from McKinney, Tex., Congressman from the Fourth District, and myself.
Mr. Hubert.
Just the three of you?
Mr. Cabell.
That is correct.
Mr. Hubert.
Do you remember who the driver was?
Mr. Cabell.
I do not remember his name. He was a member of the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas.
Mr. Hubert.
When did you observe anything at all relative to the shooting of the President?
Mr. Cabell.
Well, we were just rounding the corner of Market and Elm, making the left turn, when the first shot rang out.
Mr. Hubert.
Would you describe what you saw or heard, please, sir?
Mr. Cabell.
I heard the shot. Mrs. Cabell said, "Oh a gun" or "a shot", and I was about to deny and say "Oh it must have been a firecracker" when the second and the third shots rang out. There was a longer pause between the first and second shots than there was between the second and third shots. They were in rather rapid succession. There was no mistaking in my mind after that, that they were shots from a high-powered rifle.
Mr. Hubert.
Are you familiar with rifles so that your statement that it was your opinion it came from a high-powered rifle was that of a person who knows something about it?
Mr. Cabell.
I have done a great deal of hunting and also used military shoulder guns, as well as hunting rifles.
Mr. Hubert.
Were you in the armed services during the war?
Mr. Cabell.
No; I was not, but there was no question in my mind as to their being from a high-powered rifle and coming from the direction of the building known as the School Book Depository.
Mr. Hubert.
That you judged, I suppose, by the direction from which you thought the sound came?
Mr. Cabell.
Right.
Mr. Hubert.
Could you estimate the number of seconds, say, between the first and second shots, as related to the number of seconds between the second and third shots? Perhaps doing it on the basis of a ratio?
Mr. Cabell.
Well, I would put it this way. That approximately 10 seconds elapsed between the first and second shots, with not more than 5 seconds having elapsed until the third one.
Mr. Hubert.
Two to one ratio?
Mr. Cabell.
Approximately that. And again I say that, as you mentioned, as a matter of being relative. I couldn't tell you the exact seconds because they were not counted.
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