/internal/media/dispatcher/26293/fullImage of Bob Huffaker interviewing Lt. Richard E. Swain where Oswald was shot11/24/19632 3/16 × 2 3/16 in. (5.6 × 5.6 cm)FilmTom C. Dillard Collection, The Dallas Morning News/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza1994.003.0032.00010Black and white 120 film negative showing an image of Bob Huffaker interviewing Dallas Police detective Lt. Richard E. Swain in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters on November 24, 1963. The image was taken by a photographer from The Dallas Morning News.
The photograph shows Bob Huffaker talking to Dallas Police detective Lt. Richard E. Swain after the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald. In the image, Huffaker and Swain are left of center: Huffaker is between the photographer and Swain. Huffaker holds a microphone in his right hand. Both men are wearing suits; Swain is wearing a cowboy hat.
Swain's body is facing the direction of the camera, but his head is turned toward the right side of the image. Huffaker has his back mostly to the camera.
There are at least three police officers in the image; there are two standing together behind Huffaker and the detective, closer to the basement's exit. There is another police officer who can be seen on the lower left edge; he is smoking a pipe. There are two men, in the distance at the top of the ramp, who are walking side by side and they may be Dallas Police officers as well; they are too far away to identify. There is also another man, wearing a light, long coat and carrying a camera, who can be seen behind the detective.
In the background of the image the car ramp leading to the outside can be seen; Huffaker, Swain and the other police officers appear to be standing in the middle of the building's driveway. On the right side a portion of the wall is white on the top and black on the bottom; there is a break in this wall and it probably leads to the doors to the basement entrance of Dallas Police Headquarters. On the left side, a railing can be seen and there is a man leaning on the railing. Centered near the bottom of the image, the word "STOP," can be seen painted in large white letters on the ground.
The Dallas Morning News photographers recounted where they were throughout the day on November 22, 1963, and some also related their locations in the following days and months when they were photographing events related to the assassination (such as Lee Harvey Oswald’s transfer or the Jack Ruby Trial). Their descriptions can be found in the Belo Collection at SMU; The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza's reading room has copies of these accounts available upon request. In cases where the specific photographer who took an image is not known, the potential photographers can be narrowed down to those who said they were at the image’s location. For this image, Jack Beers was the only photographer who reported being present when the photograph was taken, but there could have been another photographer who was present and did not write about the event in their record.Photographs652245.60000000005.600000000011931Negative (b&w)0E-10Original black and white negative by a Dallas Morning News photographer. This image shows KRLD reporter Bob Huffaker interviewing Lt. Richard E. Swain of the Burglary and Theft Bureau of the Dallas Police Department in the basement of Dallas police headquarters where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot on November 24, 1963.ReporterPoliceDetectivesPhotographsBasementBeers, JackHuffaker, BobKRLD News - DallasThe Dallas Morning NewsDallas Police HeadquartersDallas Municipal BuildingDallasJack Beers was the only photographer who reported being present when the photograph was taken, but there could have been another photographer who was present and did not write about the event in their record. - Stephanie Allen-GIvens, Collections and Exhibits ManagerIn this photo taken shortly after the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, KRLD-TV reporter Bob Huffaker is seen interviewing Lt. Richard E. Swain of the Burglary and Theft Bureau of the Dallas Police Department. In a 2009 education program at the Museum, Bob Huffaker, who was broadcasting at the time of the Oswald shooting, recalled that Lt. Swain had "threatened to knock anyone down who came anywhere near [after the shooting]. I remember looking up, and I think it might've been Dick [Swain], now that I think back, who knocked me off my feet immediately after the shot.... You didn't hear me hit or anything like that, but I was being pummeled and eventually people were...stepping on my mic cord and I was following the mic down and trying to get back up again." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator