(2 of 3)
Close-Up. Other witnesses said they saw Ruby hanging around headquarters on Saturday, Nov. 23, as well. Then on Sunday morning, Jack Ruby parked his car in a downtown parking lot, walked to a Western Union office to send a $25 money order to Stripper Little Lynn, a faithful former employee who was in straits in Fort Worth. A Western Union employee testified that he stamped Ruby's receipt with his electric clocker at 11:17 a.m. Ruby seemed neither upset nor in a hurry, exchanged pleasantries and departed. According to police measurements, Ruby walked 339 ft. 6 in. down the street to the underground garage ramp of police headquarters, and at precisely 11:21 a.m. he stepped out of a crowd of newsmen, shoved a snub-nosed .38-cal. revolver at Oswald and pulled the trigger.
The man who was closest to it all was Dallas Detective James Leavelle, who was handcuffed to Oswald while escorting the prisoner out of the city jail for transfer to a maximum security county cell. In a matter-of-fact Texas twang, Leavelle testified that "there was a man come from the crowd of reporters and photographers, right up in front of myself and Oswald. When he first dashed out from the crowd, I saw he had a pistol in his right hand, and he was raising his hand, getting ready to shoot. I reached to catch the man by his left shoulder. It appeared to me he took some quick steps."
Q. He fired the gun?
A. Yes, he did. Oswald grunted and said, "No," and slumped to the floor. I had to go down with him because I was handcuffed to him. Police Officer Graves had grabbed his gun and was wrestling the gun away from him. I was watching the gun more so than anything else at the time. The right hand was still contracting on the gun as if he were attempting to fire another shot. I had pulled Lee Harvey Oswald back behind me. As soon as I saw Mr. Graves had his gun arm, I turned my attention back to Mr. Oswald and carried him back into the police office.
Q. What did Ruby say?
A. He said, "I hope the son of a bitch dies ..."
"You Know Me." Detective Thomas McMillon who also was close by, said Ruby shouted: "You rat son of a bitch —you shot the President," as he fired at Oswald. After Ruby was disarmed, he kept repeating, "I hope I killed the son of a bitch, I hope I killed the son of a bitch! You know me, you know me—I'm Jack Ruby!"
As Ruby was hustled off, a police captain said, "Of all the low-life things, this takes the cake! Why did you do it?" Replied Ruby: "Someone had to do it —you guys, the police, couldn't do it. I intended to shoot him three times, but you all moved too fast for me and I didn't get but one shot off!"