Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald

On November 24, 1963, Jack Ruby, a Jewish-American nightclub owner in Dallas, Texas, shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The shooting occurred in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters while Oswald was being transferred from the city jail to the county jail. The event was broadcast live on television.

Ruby fired a single .38 caliber revolver at close range. Oswald was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Parkland Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where President Kennedy had died two days earlier. Ruby was immediately restrained and taken into police custody.

According to Ruby’s statements to police and the Warren Commission, his motive was personal anger over Kennedy’s assassination and concern for Jacqueline Kennedy’s well-being. No verified evidence from official investigations has ever linked Ruby to any wider conspiracy.