Nov. 22, 1963 | Malcolm Kilduff Announces Death of JFK

Nov. 22, 1963 - President John Fitzgerald Kennedy died today of a wound in the brain caused by a bullet fired at him as he was riding through downtown Dallas in a motorcade. He was 46 years old. He was shot at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. President Kennedy was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas at 1:00 p.m. Malcolm Kilduff, assistant White House press secretary, made the following statement to reporters at the hospital: “President John F. Kennedy died at approximately one o’clock Central Standard Time today here in Dallas. He died of a gunshot wound in the brain. I have no other details regarding the assassination of the President. Mrs. Kennedy was not hit. Governor Connally was hit. The Vice President was not hit.” Mr. Kilduff further stated that Vice President Johnson had left the hospital and that he had not yet taken the oath of office. He added that, for reasons of security, he could not discuss the whereabouts or travel plans of the Vice President. “I understand that Governor Connally’s condition is satisfactory. He was shot twice, once apparently in the side and once in the wrist.” Mr. Kilduff added that the death of President Kennedy had been described to him by Dr. George Burkley, President Kennedy’s personal physician, as “a simple matter of a bullet right through the head.” Dallas police sources say a rifle has been found in the Texas School Book Depository but that President Kennedy’s assassin remains at large. Senator Ralph Yarborough (D-Tex.), who was riding with Vice President Johnson two cars behind the Kennedy limousine, with a Secret Service car in between, told newsmen in a voice choked with sobs: “It is too horrible to describe. We did not see them shot, but we knew immediately they were. I saw a Secret Service man in the car beating his fists on the back as they drove off, in frustration, anger, and despair.”

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