Rare Footage of JFK's Motorcade After Shooting Sells for USD 137,500 at Auction

Recently, a rare film showing President John F. Kennedy's motorcade rushing towards a hospital after he was shot has been auctioned for USD 137,500. This 8 mm colour home movie was sold by RR Auction in Boston. The buyer has chosen to stay anonymous. The footage was captured by Dale Carpenter Sr. on November 22, 1963, and remained with his family since then.

The film begins with Carpenter narrowly missing the limousine carrying President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Instead, it captures other vehicles in the motorcade as they travel down Lemmon Avenue towards downtown Dallas. The footage resumes after the president was shot, showing the motorcade speeding along Interstate 35.

Historic Film Footage

The shots were fired as the motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza, near the Texas School Book Depository. It was later discovered that Lee Harvey Oswald had positioned himself on the sixth floor of this building to carry out the assassination. Abraham Zapruder famously captured the assassination itself on film.

Carpenter's footage from Interstate 35 lasts about 10 seconds. It shows Secret Service Agent Clint Hill standing over President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, who is visible in her pink suit. Hill had jumped onto the back of the limousine when the shots were fired. The president was declared dead upon arrival at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Family Discovery

Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auction, described the film as providing "a gripping sense of urgency and heartbreak." James Gates, Carpenter's grandson, mentioned that while his family knew about the film, it wasn't frequently discussed. When Gates inherited it, stored with other family films in a milk crate, he wasn't sure what his grandfather had captured.

Around 2010, Gates projected the footage onto his bedroom wall. Initially unimpressed by the scenes from Lemmon Avenue, he was shocked by what he saw from Interstate 35. "That was shocking," he said. Although still photos from this part of the film have been released by the auction house, they are not making the video publicly available.

This newly surfaced footage adds another layer to understanding that tragic day in American history. While it doesn't capture the assassination itself, it offers a glimpse into the immediate aftermath and chaos that followed.