Mr. O'Brien. As I recall, our car was about to make that turn, and it would seem to me, therefore, the President's car was in the process of making the left turn. I would think that approximately the time he was swinging on this curving left, we were swinging out of Main Street right. We heard the shots very clearly.
Mr. Adams. How many shots did you hear?
Mr. O'Brien. Three.
Mr. Adams. Can you estimate for me the time interval between the first and the last shot?
Mr. O'Brien. I don't believe I can estimate the timing, but I can tell you about an exchange that took place in the car, from the first shot through the third shot.
Mr. Adams. Please do.
Mr. O'Brien. The first shot was fired. I just didn't conclude it was rifle fire. I was completely unsure. And I must have almost immediately said to the driver—I directed the question to him, for some unknown reason—"What was that?" The driver replied, "I do not know. They must be giving him a 21-gun salute." By the time the driver had concluded that sentence, we did not hear explosion No. 4. And it was apparent to us that No. 1 was not a 21-gun salute. I believe everyone in the car concluded it wasn't, in any event, because it just was not that kind of a sound. And we just had no idea of what had occurred at that moment.
Mr. Adams. Could you tell me your best recollection as to where the sounds appeared to come from?
Mr. O'Brien. I didn't have any idea specifically on the location of the sounds, and I do not recall that anyone in the car did.
Mr. Adams. Is it your recollection that these sounds were evenly spaced?