Target Practice in Dealey Plaza

From Mafia Kingfish by John Davis (paperback Signet Books edition, 1989)

That same morning [Wednesday, November 20, 1963], in the center of Dallas, two police officers on routine patrol entered Dealey Plaza, through which the presidential motorcade would pass on Friday, and noticed several men standing behind a wooden fence on a grassy knoll overlooking the plaza. The men were engaged in mock target practice, aiming rifles over the fence, in the direction of the plaza. The two police officers immediately made for the fence, but buy the time they got there the riflemen had disappeared, having departed in a car that had been parked nearby. The two patrol officers did not give much thought to the incident at the time, but after the assassination of the President two days later, they reported the incident to the FBI, which issued a report of it on November 26. For reasons that have never been satisfactorily explained, the substance of the report was never mentioned in the FBI’s investigation of the assassination and the report itself disappeared until 1978, when it finaly resurfaced as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request.

I have been unable to track down this November 26 FBI report. However, confirmation of it comes from historian Michael Kurtz in his book Crime of the Century where on page 218 of the second revised edition he says:

Two days before the assassination, two Dallas police officers were making their usual rounds on patrol. As they entered Dealey Plaza, they observed several men engaged in target practice with a rifle. The men were situated behind the wooden fence on the Grass Knoll. By the time the policemen reached the area the men had vanished, apparently leaving in a car parked nearby.

Kurtz cites an FBI report, 26 Nov 1963, from Federal Bureau of Investigation. Papers on the Assassination of President Kennedy. 15 vols., 3847pp. Linus A. Sims Memorial Library, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA

As I said, I have not seen the Nov 26 FBI report so if anyone has this I would appreciate a copy. I do have a copy of an FBI teletype dated November 27, 1963 which reads in part as follows:

TO: DIRECTOR, FBI AND SAC, DALLAS
FROM: SAC, SAN ANTONIO (89-67)(1p)
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY
RE. OSWALD. EVIDENCE
….
ON NOVEMBER TWENTY LAST, THE DALLAS POLICE SIGHTED TWO UNKNOWN MEN SIGHTING IN A RIFLE NEAR SCENE OF WHERE PRESIDENT ASSASSINATED. RIFLE BEING SIGHTED IN AT TWO SILHOUETTES TARGET OLD MODEL CAR SEEN IN VICINITY OF MEN. POLICE CIRCLED TO CONTACT MEN AND THEY DISAPPEARED

END

Also I have a copy of a military intelligence report:

112TH INTELLIGENCE CORPS GROUP
SPOT REPORT (REGION II)

DATE SENT: 22 Nov 63
TIME RECEIVED: 2235 hrs

FROM : Region II
SPOT REPORT NUMBER: 419
SUBJECT: Lee Harvey OSWALD
REFERENCE TO PREVIOUS REPORTS: 418
5. TIME, DATE, AND PLACE: 2000
to 22000 hrs, 22 Nov 63
6. PERSONNEL, ORGANIZATION, OR INSTALLATION INVOLVED:
SUBJECT and Dallas Police
7. SUMMARY: The following related to S/As West and
Lanyon, Region II by Capt Dowdy, Dallas Police.
….

The Police have interviewed a witness who has stated that a man fitting SUBJECT in the immediate vicinity of the place where President Kennedy was killed. These men were observed sighting in a rifle at two silhouette targets. When the police arrived on the scene they realized they were in the direct line of sight so attempted to approach the men by circling around to their rear. When the two officers arrived at the spot where the men were last observed with the rifle. The description of the car fits the description of the car that SUBJECT was driving. Witness there was a man sitting in the car. (this info has not been released to the public)
…
12. TIME AND DATE INFORMATION RECEIVED BY REPORTING AGENCY: 2225 HDRS, 22 Nov 63
13. COMMENT BY REPORTING AGENCY:
Region II agents were cautioned that most of the above info was not public knowledge.

I thought it was interesting that the description of the car fit the description of the car that the SUBJECT was driving, given that the subject was Lee Harvey Oswald, who was not known to drive. One would think that a report of this nature would have been thoroughly investigated by the Dallas Police, the FBI and the Warren Commission but of course this was not the case, as this would have represented evidence of conspiracy and that was the last thing they wanted to find.