At least 40 bystanders (including 21 police officers) said gunfire came from in front of the motorcade, as well as behind. A bystander‘s home movie footage lent credence to the notion, but was suppressed by the government.

In custody, Oswald denied responsibility. „I didn’t shoot anybody,“ he told reporters. Within hours he was killed in police custody by a stripclub owner with organized crime connections.

These shocking and baffling events traumatized the country, and the world, like no other single event, at least until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.