Image of the top floors of the Texas School Book Depository

The late Tom Dillard, chief photographer at The Dallas Morning News in 1963, took this photograph of the Texas School Book Depository from his position in Camera Car #3 in the motorcade. Dillard was in the front passenger's seat of the vehicle while his friend and professional rival Bob Jackson, a staff photographer at the Dallas Times Herald, sat directly behind him. 

In his 1993 oral history with The Sixth Floor Museum, Dillard recalls the moment he snapped this famous image (excerpt edited for clarity):

"When this gun went off, it was loud, and I said, “They’re throwing torpedoes at him.” Why, I guess in my mind [I was thinking of] those things we threw as kids that hit the sidewalk and exploded. Then, in a matter of a second and a half, another shot -- or two seconds, something like that. I said, “No, that’s rifle fire.” The third shot, I said, “My God, they’ve killed him.” To me, three rifle shots. 

Just about in that period of my talking, Bob Jackson said, “There’s a guy with a rifle up in that window.” I said, “Where?” I had both cameras around my neck, loaded, focused, cocked. And I am a trigger reaction-type person. I had my camera in my hand, the wide angle, the one that covered a great deal. 

Bob says, “It’s that top window.” And by that time, I shot a picture with the wide-angle camera. I said, “Which window?” He said, “It’s the one on the right, second from the top.” By that time, I had the 100mm camera up, shot a picture of that window. [The photo shows] nothing other than what looks like maybe something on the window ledge."