DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas 55 years ago Thursday and while President Kennedy is honored on this day every year, many North Texans honor the police officer who was gunned down in the immediate aftermath of the shooting in Dealey Plaza.
Dallas Police Officer J D Tippit stopped a man fitting the description of the assassin near 10th and Patton in Oak Cliff. He was shot to death as he exited his patrol car.
Dallas Police Historian and retired Detective Roderick Janich says Officer Tippit’s actions led police to Lee Harvey Oswald more quickly.
“Without his actions that day, in 1963, that brought the attention to Lee Harvey Oswald quicker then probably would have happened if J D Tippit hadn’t stopped him that day,” Janich said.
The Warren Commission Report concluded that after Oswald shot President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally from the Texas School Book Depository, he went to his Oak Cliff rooming house. From there he retrieved a pistol and shot Officer Tippit about a mile away. He then ran to the Texas Theatre where he was eventually arrested.
“I give real kudos to the guys that were there that day, the boots on the ground, because they solved the Crime of the Century that day with just good police work,” Janich said.
Tippit, who was only 39 years old in November of 1963, is now honored by a marker that was placed at 10th and Patton a few years ago.
To hear WBAP’s Eric Bushman’s report, click the link below:
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