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John F. Kennedy Assassination

Published June 22, 2026Updated June 20, 2026
SolvedVisual case overview

Seconds in Dealey Plaza · decades of inquiry · no settled consensus

The evidence and argument around Dealey Plaza

Kennedy's murder, Oswald's arrest, and Jack Ruby's killing of the accused assassin created a compressed sequence whose physical evidence and official interpretations remain intensely debated.

Read the full case overview

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas as his motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza; Texas Governor John Connally was seriously wounded. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested later that day after the shooting of Officer J. D. Tippit, then was himself shot and killed by Jack Ruby on November 24 before any trial could occur. The Warren Commission concluded in 1964 that Oswald acted alone and that Ruby acted alone, while later inquiries reexamined but did not overturn the core official finding. Kennedy's death, Johnson's rapid succession aboard Air Force One, and the enduring dispute over the evidence made the case one of the most scrutinized crimes in modern American history.

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John F. Kennedy motorcade in Dallas

The motorcade

Dallas, moments before the shooting

The scale

The case in four numbers

2
days until Oswald's death
before the evidence could be tested at trial
2
official inquiries
reaching different conspiracy conclusions
60+
years of records
released and re-examined since 1963
1
central film record
the Zapruder film of the shooting

The central sequence

A shooting, an arrest, and a suspect silenced

The core chronology moves from Dealey Plaza to the Depository, Oak Cliff, the Texas Theatre, and Jack Ruby's killing of Oswald two days later.

See all 9 mapped locations →
  1. 01

    Nov 22, 1963

    Motorcade enters Dealey Plaza and Kennedy is shot

    After arriving at Love Field, Kennedy’s motorcade drove through downtown Dallas; shots were fired in Dealey Plaza at 12:30 p.m. CST and the president was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

  2. 02

    Nov 22, 1963

    Investigators recover evidence at the Depository

    Police and investigators found cartridge cases, a rifle, and related evidence on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.

  3. 03

    Nov 22, 1963

    Officer J. D. Tippit is killed in Oak Cliff

    Roughly 45 minutes after the Dealey Plaza shooting, Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit was shot and killed in Oak Cliff.

  4. 04

    Nov 22, 1963

    Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested at the Texas Theatre

    Police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald inside the Texas Theatre after a struggle with officers.

  5. 05

    Nov 24, 1963

    Jack Ruby fatally shoots Lee Harvey Oswald

    During Oswald’s basement transfer at Dallas police headquarters, Jack Ruby stepped from the crowd and shot him on live television.

  6. 06

    Sep 24, 1964

    Warren Commission issues its report

    The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy and that Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald.

Why debate endures

Physical evidence and competing conclusions

1
Strongly supported

Investigators recovered cartridge cases and a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, making the Depository the central physical anchor of the official case against Oswald.

2
Strongly supported

The Warren Commission formally concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing President Kennedy and that Jack Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald.

3
Supported

The House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in 1979 that Kennedy was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy, even while agreeing that Oswald fired shots from the Depository.

4
Supported

Later scientific reviews rejected the reliability of the dictabelt acoustic evidence that had helped HSCA infer a probable conspiracy.

Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald
48h
until Oswald's death

Oswald's death changed the case permanently

Jack Ruby killed the accused assassin before a trial could test the evidence in open court, deepening public suspicion for decades.

Compare the major theories →

Where certainty changes

Not every event carries the same weight

Open each layer to see what the archive treats as core, contested, or unresolved.

01EstablishedShots were linked to the Depository and Oswald was arrested
The rifle, cartridge cases, Oswald's employment and movements, and his arrest form the strongest shared factual sequence.
02ContestedOfficial inquiries diverged on conspiracy
The Warren Commission found Oswald acted alone; the HSCA later inferred a probable conspiracy largely from acoustic evidence that subsequent reviews rejected.
03Open questionWhy has no alternative command structure been proved?
Record releases have expanded context and exposed long withholding, but have not established a second shooter or directing organization.

Go deeper

Choose your path through the case

This overview is the map. The case tabs hold the underlying events, people, media, locations, and source material.

22 events 11 people 8 theories 9 locations 13 images Case documents