WI: JFK shot on Houston Street

What if JFK had been shot when the motorcade turned onto Houston street instead of on Elm Street? In the movie JFK, it was mentioned that Houston Street would have been the easiest shot for a single shooter in the TSBD. Assuming Oswald acted alone, What if he had shot and killed JFK there with just one shot? Would this butterfly the conspiracy theories?
 
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What if JFK had been shot when the motorcade turned onto Houston street instead of on Elm Street? In the movie JFK, it was mentioned that Houston Street would have been the easiest shot for a single shooter in the TSBD. Assuming Oswald acted alone, What if he had shot and killed JFK there with just one shot? Would this butterfly the conspiracy theories?

It's a big assumption! Why was Oswald killed? Why did the killer have 'Mob' connections?
 
It's a big assumption! Why was Oswald killed? Why did the killer have 'Mob' connections?

Neither Ruby nor Oswald were the sort of people you'd trust with something as secretive or high-risk as the roles the conspiracy theories assign them.

teg
 
Well, since JFK was surrounded by secret service and police, one of them would have easily located the source of the gunfire and return fire. The reason why Oswald shot him as he turned on to Elm is because he wanted to escape.
 
Assuming Oswald acted alone.... which he did. Even firmly dismissing the theories that he couldn't shoot while JFK on Houston Street because of co-conspirators and other shooters being in position around Elm Street or other utter bs like that, it's still a fair question as to why Oswald didn't shoot when the motorcade was coming towards him. And in fact, we may never know the answer. Maybe he got cold feet for a minute, and only found the "courage" (for lack of a better word) to go through with the assassination by the time JFK was on Elm Street. Or maybe Oswald had some technical malfunction with the weapons that he had to take care of first, and by that time the motorcade was already on Elm Street.

The one thing I did always agree with was that the motorcade coming towards him on Houston Street would have been a more logical shot than the way it went down historically. Does this mean Oswald didn't do it, there was another shooter, or whatever other crazy conspiracy theories have come up through the years? Absolutely not, Oswald acted alone, and shot JFK on Elm Street. The question why he didn't took the easier shot on Houston Street might remain a mystery forever.

Well, since JFK was surrounded by secret service and police, one of them would have easily located the source of the gunfire and return fire. The reason why Oswald shot him as he turned on to Elm is because he wanted to escape.
Secret Service only cares about protecting the president. I seriously question if they were going to shoot at the TSBD building from a distance. They didn't even fire at the assassins during the various assassination attempts against Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan (Squeaky Fromme, Sara Jane Moore, John Hinckley Jr). I do believe Secret Service and police knew exactly where the gunfire was coming from, hence why none of them rushed towards the grassy knoll or anything like that. Bringing JFK to safety however was an obvious higher priority than acting against the assassin.
 
Well, since JFK was surrounded by secret service and police, one of them would have easily located the source of the gunfire and return fire.



That's not for sure. Surrounded by buildings the shot echo bounce all over. Often you can't tell from which direction an emergency vehicle is approaching.
 
The one thing I did always agree with was that the motorcade coming towards him on Houston Street would have been a more logical shot than the way it went down historically.

I'm not sure it necessarily would be. As the car was coming down Houston Street towards his position, Oswald would have had to consistently increase the angle he was firing at, aiming further and further downwards to track Kennedy. The angle was such that the front-row passengers, Governor Connolly and his wife, were also in the way, and I'm not aware that Oswald wanted to hurt anyone but Kennedy. There's also the fact that Kennedy is at that point moving in both a lateral and horizontal fashion, relative to Oswald both 'falling' and moving to left.

On the other hand, once the car as turned the corner and is moving away from his position, JFK is unobstructed by other occupants of the vehicle, and is a 'rising' target with no motion to either the right or left, which is easier to track and hit. Take a look at the firing position and think about it. Even the architecture of the window is better for the shot he took. Shooting down Houston Street means Oswald would be firing from an open space behind the window, while the Elm Street shot means he can better brace himself in the opening.
 
I don't think this stops the spread of the conspiracy nonsense. Ruby still shoots Oswald. There is still no trail, which would have taught people the evidence that showed Oswald did it on his own. People still have trouble with the concept that one pathetic man could do so much damage.
 
Well, since JFK was surrounded by secret service and police, one of them would have easily located the source of the gunfire and return fire. The reason why Oswald shot him as he turned on to Elm is because he wanted to escape.

IIRC, the Secret Service do not do much in the way of "reactive fire". Once the person they are supposed to be protecting is wounded, there is little reason for them to "return fire".

I could be wrong but I think I've heard that only the Secret Service Sniper Teams are expected to return fire (or preemptive fire) on threats.
 
I'm too tired to reply deeply, but I agree with Georgepatton. Shooting an oncoming target from that angle would be a hell of a lot harder than shooting a departing target. Shooting at Kennedy while he was moving away was a leisurely, easy shot where the shooter had full control. An oncoming target, from the perspective of the shooter, feels like it's moving much faster, because it's constantly forcing a change of aim. Houston street is too hard of a shot.
 
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