COUNTY OF DALLAS
SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
SUPPLEMENTARY INVESTIGATION REPORT
Name of Complainant
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
Offense
ASSASSINATION
Date: November 23, 1963
Mr. Decker:
I was standing on Main Street in front of the Criminal Courts Building the morning of November 22, 1963 and observed the Presidential procession pass by. Just after it had turned the corner and a very short time later I heard what was shots, 3 in number. I ran around the corner and directly across the street across the Dealy Plaza to the Elm street side of the triple underpass. As we were running across the street, we could see the presidential car pulling away under the underpass and we continued on to the immediate area. Some stopped to talk to people standing there as there were a number of women who were hysterical. We could not get any information except that the President had been shot. Several of the other officers in the group ran on into the freight yards. After we failed to get any coherent information from people there, we began searching the area and possibly 5 or 6 minutes after the time we reached the area, we went from there to the Texas School Book Depository and 7 of us went inside. We were the first ones into the building from the front door and several of us searched the first floor and moved on up into the building. I took the back stairs and went first to the 5th floor. I did not see anything on this floor and continued on up to the 6th floor and by that time officers Mooney and Grandstaff were on the 6th floor. They told me that Officers Webster and Victory had gone to the 7th floor and I went on up there. As I started up there, Webster came to the head of the stairs and said they needed lights. I left the building and came to the Sheriff's Office to get the needed lights. On the way to the office, I picked up Deputy L.C. Smith and then met Deputy Eugene Boone whom I had previously sent to the jail with a young boy to get film out of a camera. We then together went to the jail and got some lights and returned to the Texas School Book Depository building. We took 4 lights to the 7th floor and we stopped on the 6th floor where Officers Mooney and Grandstaff were searching the floor. The other boys took the remaining lights to the 7th floor. They had by this time, ascertained that there was no one on this floor, so we started a thorough search of the 6th floor and almost immediately, Deputy Luke Mooney called out that he had found some shells in the southeast corner of the floor. I was approximately 8 feet from Mooney when he discovered the shells. I crawled up on a stack of pasteboard boxes full of books and looked at the spot. Mooney then leaned out of the window and called down to Sheriff Decker who was standing on the sidewalk in front of the building, requesting the Sheriff to come upstairs, that he had found the shells. By this time there were numerous City officers gathering on the streets. About 3 minutes after Deputy Mooney had called out, Chief Lumpkin and several officers from the police department came to the 6th floor and told us not to touch anything. Approximately 5 minutes later, Capt. Will Fritz and several of his officers came onto this floor. There were about 8 to 10 officers on this floor by this time and we had already started a systamatic search of the floor, looking for the weapon. About 2 minutes after Capt. Fritz had arrived on the floor, Deputy Eugene Boone called out that he had found the rifle shoved down between 2 rows of pasteboard boxes of books. Capt. Fritz took over the search at this time and one of the other Deputies who had been in the building came over and told us that Sheriff Decker had given orders to let the City take over the investigation and for the Deputies to return to the sheriff's office, which we did. We then brought the lights back and put them up and by this time the Sheriff's Office was so full of people and witnesses that no one could move around. I stayed at my desk awaiting further instructions. At approximately 7:00 PM Sheriff Decker told us that we should go home and that we were to stay on call and if we were needed he would contact us.
Ralph Walters