Which witnesses placed Lee Harvey Oswald at the Tippit shooting and what were their exact statements?
Executive summary
Multiple contemporary reports and official investigations say at least a dozen people either saw the shooter at or immediately after the J.D. Tippit killing and that several witnesses later identified Lee Harvey Oswald in lineups; the Warren Commission said six witnesses identified Oswald as the man seen fleeing and five had identified him by the evening of November 22 [1] [2]. Available sources list named witnesses who claimed to have seen the shooting or the fleeing man (including Helen Markham, William “Ted” Callaway, Sam Guinyard, Domingo Benavides and William Scoggins) and summarize their statements, but do not provide every witness’s verbatim, contemporaneous quotes in full [3] [1] [2] [4].
1. The official summary: “six witnesses” and “at least twelve present”
The Warren Report and its appendices—reproduced by the National Archives—state that “six witnesses identified Oswald as the man they saw in flight after the murder of Tippit” and that “at least 12 persons saw the man with the revolver in the vicinity of the Tippit crime scene at or immediately after the shooting” [1] [2]. The House Select Committee later relied on forensic evidence plus eyewitness interviews to conclude Oswald possessed the murder weapon shortly after the killing and that eyewitness identifications supported the conclusion Oswald shot Tippit [5].
2. Witnesses who testified they saw the shooter or the man fleeing
Contemporary lists and summaries name several key witnesses who placed a man with a revolver at the scene or saw someone running away: Helen Louise Markham (who said she saw the killing), William “Ted” Callaway and Sam Guinyard (who saw the killer “gun in hand” and later picked Oswald out of a lineup), William Scoggins (taxi driver who heard shots and saw a man run), and Domingo Benavides (who saw Tippit and then a man leave; he later said a photo resembled the man he saw) [3] [1] [2] [4].
3. What each named witness is reported to have said (summaries, not verbatim transcripts)
- Helen Markham: Described by detractors and some secondary sources as “the only woman among the witnesses” who claimed to have seen the shooting in its entirety; later accounts note she had difficulty identifying anyone in a lineup until after seeing publicity images [6] [4].
- Ted Callaway and Sam Guinyard: Reported by the Warren Commission appendix as having seen the killer with a gun in the block of Patton Avenue and later identifying Oswald in a police lineup that evening [1].
- William (Bill) Scoggins: A taxi driver who said he heard the shots, had his view blocked by hedges during the actual shooting, then saw a man run and later picked Oswald out of a lineup [7] [6].
- Domingo Benavides: Did not get a full look at the shooter’s face while the man ran away; Benavides later said a photograph of Oswald resembled the man he saw and retrieved shell casings at the scene [2] [8].
- Other witnesses: The Portal to Texas History case reports and other compilations list additional witnesses (the contemporary case reports name many people and summarize their testimony), but those source summaries do not present full, word-for-word statements for every person [3] [9].
4. Disagreements, inconsistencies, and alternate accounts
Some secondary accounts and later critics emphasize contradictions: Acquilla (Aquilla/Acquilla) Clemons and several others claimed there were two men involved; scholars and critics have argued Helen Markham’s identification changed under pressure; and a few witnesses described a killer who did not resemble Oswald [4] [10] [6]. The Warren Report acknowledged the central role of specific eyewitnesses but also compiled other testimony and scientific evidence to reach its findings [1] [11].
5. Limits of the available sources and what’s not in current reporting
Available sources provided here supply names, summaries and Commission findings, but do not supply verbatim, fully transcribed statements of every witness at the scene; the detailed in‑court or FBI transcripts for each witness are not reproduced in these excerpts [3] [9]. If you want the exact, word‑for‑word testimony for each named witness, the Warren Commission hearings, FBI interview transcripts, or the case reports on the Portal to Texas History (which the summaries reference) are the primary documents to consult—those appear to exist but are not fully quoted in the current set of search results [3] [9] [1].
6. Bottom line for readers
Official investigations concluded multiple eyewitnesses placed a man with a revolver at the scene and that several of those witnesses identified Oswald in lineups the night of the murder; critics point to inconsistencies and alternative eyewitness reports (two shooters, non‑matching descriptions) that fuel continuing dispute [1] [5] [4]. For verbatim witness statements, consult the Warren Commission hearings appendices, FBI interview transcripts and the Dallas case reports referenced in the Portal to Texas History [3] [1] [9].