Exact time of the shooting
John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time (UTC−6). The shots were fired as his motorcade traveled on Elm Street in Dealey Plaza. This timing is recorded by the Warren Commission, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reconstruction, and multiple contemporaneous sources including Dallas Police radio logs and broadcast news feeds.
Context and immediate sequence
At 12:30 p.m. CST, the presidential limousine was turning from Houston Street onto Elm Street toward the Stemmons Freeway underpass. An initial broadcast report of a shooting was transmitted by Dallas police at approximately 12:31 p.m., and the first major television networks interrupted programming within one to two minutes of the reported shots. Governor John Connally, who was also in the car, was seriously wounded in the same attack. The sequence was captured on film by Abraham Zapruder and reported live by journalists in the motorcade caravan.
Official timelines and key events
Official and media timelines converge on 12:30 p.m. as the moment of the shooting, with radio logs and television timestamps aligning closely. Below is a concise overview of the most widely cited times for each notable event during the motorcade and aftermath.
| Event | Documented Time (CST) | Source Type |
|---|---|---|
| Motorcade departs Love Field | 11:38 a.m. | Official schedule |
| Shooting in Dealey Plaza | 12:30 p.m. | Warren Commission; NIST; broadcast logs |
| First broadcast interruption (CBS) | 12:31 p.m. | Network time logs |
| First broadcast interruption (NBC) | 12:33 p.m. | Network time logs |
| Kennedy pronounced dead at Parkland | 1:00 p.m. | Parkland Hospital records |
| Oswald arrested at Texas Theatre | 1:50 p.m. | Dallas Police logs |
| Oswald shot by Jack Ruby | November 24, 1963, 11:21 a.m. | News footage; police records |
Zapruder film and radio logs
The Zapruder film, an amateur home-movie capturing the shooting, was timestamped closely to 12:30 p.m. by photographic analysis and sync attempts with radio channels. The Dallas Police radio channel recorded dispatch traffic around the shooting with timestamps aligning to the 12:30 p.m. estimate, although some frames in the Zapruder film remain not publicly viewable due to copyright restrictions. Multiple acoustic studies conducted by the Department of Justice and later by NIST have supported the sub-two-minute window between the first reported shots and the motorcade’s arrival at Parkland.
Common questions and clarifications
- Why is 12:30 p.m. cited most often?Official investigations, news broadcasts of the era, and timelines compiled by the Warren Commission and later NIST consistently anchor the shooting to 12:30 p.m. CST.
- How accurate is the time today?While early television reports occasionally showed slight discrepancies at the minute level, the convergence of radio logs, film timestamps, and official reports support 12:30 p.m. as the reliable consensus time.
- Did the time change with time zones?The time is most commonly given in Central Time (UTC−6 at the time; today the region observes Central Daylight Time in November). Converting to UTC yields 18:30 on November 22, 1963.
Reliable sources for verification
Readers can verify the timing through the following authoritative sources: the Warren Commission hearings and exhibits, the NIST historical reconstruction project at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Zapruder film records held by the JFK Library, and contemporaneous broadcast logs from CBS and NBC. Additional context is available via the Museum of JFK timeline and the meticulous timeline compiled by journalist and historian Vincent Bugliosi.
Summary
John F. Kennedy was shot at 12:30 p.m. CST on November 22, 1936, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas. This timing is corroborated by the Warren Commission, modern forensic reconstructions, broadcast network logs, and the Zapruder film. Understanding this precise moment is central to the broader timeline of the assassination, the subsequent investigations, and the enduring historical record.