COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1797
OSWALD AT DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT
Mrs. Julia Postal, selling tickets at the box office of the Texas Theatre, heard police sirens and then saw a man as he “ducked into” the outer lobby space of the theatre near the ticket office.[C4-621] Attracted by the sound of the sirens, Mrs. Postal stepped out of the box office and walked to the curb.[C4-622] Shortly thereafter, Johnny Brewer, who had come from the nearby shoestore, asked Mrs. Postal whether the fellow that had ducked in had bought a ticket.[C4-623] She said, “No; by golly, he didn’t,” and turned around, but the man was nowhere in sight.[C4-624] Brewer told Mrs. Postal that he had seen the man ducking into his place of business and that he had followed him to the theatre.[C4-625] She sent Brewer into the theatre to find the man and check the exits, told him about the assassination, and said “I don’t know if this is the man they want * * * but he is running from them for some reason.”[C4-626] She then called the police.[C4-627]
At 1:45 p.m., the police radio stated, “Have information a suspect just went in the Texas Theatre on West Jefferson.”[C4-628] Patrol cars bearing at least 15 officers converged on the Texas Theatre.[C4-629] Patrolman M. N. McDonald, with Patrolmen R. Hawkins, T. A. Hutson, and C. T. Walker, entered the theatre from the rear.[C4-630] Other policemen entered the front door and searched the balcony.[C4-631] Detective Paul L. Bentley rushed to the balcony and told the projectionist to turn up the house lights.[C4-632] Brewer met McDonald and the other policemen at the alley exit door, stepped out onto the stage with them[C4-633] and pointed out the man who had come into the theatre without paying.[C4-634] The man was Oswald. He was sitting alone in the rear of the main floor of the theatre near the right center aisle.[C4-635] About six or seven people were seated on the theatre’s main floor and an equal number in the balcony.[C4-636]
McDonald first searched two men in the center of the main floor, about 10 rows from the front.[C4-637] He walked out of the row up the right center aisle.[C4-638] When he reached the row where the suspect was sitting, McDonald stopped abruptly and told the man to get on his feet.[C4-639] Oswald rose from his seat, bringing up both hands.[C4-640] As McDonald started to search Oswald’s waist for a gun, he heard him say, “Well, it’s all over now.”[C4-641] Oswald then struck McDonald between the eyes with his left fist; with his right hand he drew a gun from his waist.[C4-642] McDonald struck back with his right hand and grabbed the gun with his left hand.[C4-643] They both fell into the seats.[C4-644] Three other officers, moving toward the scuffle, grabbed Oswald from the front, rear and side.[C4-645] As McDonald fell into the seat with his left hand on the gun, he felt something graze across his hand and heard what sounded like the snap of the hammer.[C4-646] McDonald felt the pistol scratch his cheek as he wrenched it away from Oswald.[C4-647] Detective Bob K. Carroll, who was standing beside McDonald, seized the gun from him.[C4-648]
The other officers who helped subdue Oswald corroborated McDonald in his testimony except that they did not hear Oswald say, “It’s all over now.” Deputy Sheriff Eddy R. Walthers recalled such a remark but he did not reach the scene of the struggle until Oswald had been knocked to the floor by McDonald and the others.[C4-649] Some of the officers saw Oswald strike McDonald with his fist.[C4-650] Most of them heard a click which they assumed to be a click of the hammer of the revolver.[C4-651] Testimony of a firearms expert before the Commission established that the hammer of the revolver never touched the shell in the chamber.[C4-652] Although the witnesses did not hear the sound of a misfire, they might have heard a snapping noise resulting from the police officer grabbing the cylinder of the revolver and pulling it away from Oswald while he was attempting to pull the trigger.[C4-653] (See app. X, [p. 560].)
Two patrons of the theatre and John Brewer testified regarding the arrest of Oswald, as did the various police officers who participated in the fight. George Jefferson Applin, Jr., confirmed that Oswald fought with four or five officers before he was handcuffed.[C4-654] He added that one officer grabbed the muzzle of a shotgun, drew back, and hit Oswald with the butt end of the gun in the back.[C4-655] No other theatre patron or officer has testified that Oswald was hit by a gun. Nor did Oswald ever complain that he was hit with a gun, or injured in the back. Deputy Sheriff Walthers brought a shotgun into the theatre but laid it on some seats before helping to subdue Oswald.[C4-656] Officer Ray Hawkins said that there was no one near Oswald who had a shotgun and he saw no one strike Oswald in the back with a rifle butt or the butt of a gun.[C4-657]
John Gibson, another patron in the theatre, saw an officer grab Oswald, and he claims that he heard the click of a gun misfiring.[C4-658] He saw no shotgun in the possession of any policeman near Oswald.[C4-659] Johnny Brewer testified he saw Oswald pull the revolver and the officers struggle with him to take it away but that once he was subdued, no officer struck him.[C4-660] He further stated that while fists were flying he heard one of the officers say “Kill the President, will you.”[C4-661] It is unlikely that any of the police officers referred to Oswald as a suspect in the assassination. While the police radio had noted the similarity in description of the two suspects, the arresting officers were pursuing Oswald for the murder of Tippit.[C4-662] As Oswald, handcuffed, was led from the theatre, he was, according to McDonald, “cursing a little bit and hollering police brutality.”[C4-663] At 1:51 p.m., police car 2 reported by radio that it was on the way to headquarters with the suspect.[C4-664]
Captain Fritz returned to police headquarters from the Texas School Book Depository at 2:15 after a brief stop at the sheriff’s office.[C4-665] When he entered the homicide and robbery bureau office, he saw two detectives standing there with Sgt. Gerald L. Hill, who had driven from the theatre with Oswald.[C4-666] Hill testified that Fritz told the detective to get a search warrant, go to an address on Fifth Street in Irving, and pick up a man named Lee Oswald. When Hill asked why Oswald was wanted, Fritz replied, “Well, he was employed down at the Book Depository and he had not been present for a roll call of the employees.”[C4-667] Hill said, “Captain, we will save you a trip * * * there he sits.”[C4-668]
STATEMENTS OF OSWALD DURING DETENTION
Oswald was questioned intermittently for approximately 12 hours between 2:30 p.m., on November 22, and 11 a.m., on November 24. Throughout this interrogation he denied that he had anything to do either with the assassination of President Kennedy or the murder of Patrolman Tippit. Captain Fritz of the homicide and robbery bureau did most of the questioning, but he kept no notes and there were no stenographic or tape recordings. Representatives of other law enforcement agencies were also present, including the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service. They occasionally participated in the questioning. The reports prepared by those present at these interviews are set forth in appendix XI. A full discussion of Oswald’s detention and interrogation is presented in chapter V of this report.