CBS' Ike Pappas, saw Oswald shooting, dies at 75
Ike Pappas, a longtime CBS newsman who was a few feet from presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald when he was fatally shot and reported the chaotic scene live on the air, has died at 75.
Pappas, who also covered major events like the Vietnam War and anti-war demonstrations at home, died Sunday in an Arlington, Virginia, hospital of complications from heart disease, his family said.
A New York City native, Pappas was in Dallas after John F. Kennedy's November 22, 1963, assassination, reporting for New York radio station WNEW, when police brought the manacled Oswald into the police station basement two days later to be transferred to the jail.
He had just asked the suspect, "You have anything to say in your defense?" when someone shoved Pappas, a gunshot sounded and Oswald crumpled, mortally wounded.
"There's a shot! Oswald has been shot! Oswald has been shot!" Pappas said on the air. "A shot rang out. Mass confusion here, all the doors have been locked. Holy mackerel!"
"One of the wildest scenes I've ever seen," he said seconds later.
The person who had elbowed Pappas aside turned out to be Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who was convicted of killing Oswald. Pappas told the story in testimony at Ruby's trial and later to the Warren Commission that investigated the Kennedy assassination.
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Pappas, who also covered major events like the Vietnam War and anti-war demonstrations at home, died Sunday in an Arlington, Virginia, hospital of complications from heart disease, his family said.
A New York City native, Pappas was in Dallas after John F. Kennedy's November 22, 1963, assassination, reporting for New York radio station WNEW, when police brought the manacled Oswald into the police station basement two days later to be transferred to the jail.
He had just asked the suspect, "You have anything to say in your defense?" when someone shoved Pappas, a gunshot sounded and Oswald crumpled, mortally wounded.
"There's a shot! Oswald has been shot! Oswald has been shot!" Pappas said on the air. "A shot rang out. Mass confusion here, all the doors have been locked. Holy mackerel!"
"One of the wildest scenes I've ever seen," he said seconds later.
The person who had elbowed Pappas aside turned out to be Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who was convicted of killing Oswald. Pappas told the story in testimony at Ruby's trial and later to the Warren Commission that investigated the Kennedy assassination.