John F. Kennedy died after being shot while riding in an open limousine during a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

What happened in Dallas

Kennedy was traveling through Dealey Plaza in a presidential motorcade around 12:30 p.m. when gunshots were fired as his car passed the Texas School Book Depository. Bullets struck him in the upper body and head, and Texas Governor John Connally, who was sitting in front of him, was also seriously wounded.

He was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where doctors attempted emergency treatment. Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. local time, and his death was attributed to massive head and brain injuries from the gunshot wounds.

Who shot JFK (official account)

The official investigations concluded that the shots were fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had recently been employed there. Oswald was arrested later that day and charged with the president’s murder, but he was killed two days afterward by nightclub owner Jack Ruby before he could stand trial, which helped fuel public suspicion and ongoing debate.

Key official findings

  • Warren Commission (1964): Concluded that Oswald acted alone and fired three shots from behind the president.
  • Later congressional committee (HSCA, 1970s): Suggested Kennedy was “probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy,” though it did not identify additional gunmen.

The wounds and cause of death

According to official medical and investigative reports, one bullet entered Kennedy’s upper back, exited through his throat, and likely continued on to wound Governor Connally, a sequence often called the “single-bullet theory.” A separate shot then struck Kennedy in the head, shattering part of his skull and causing a catastrophic brain injury that was immediately life‑threatening and ultimately fatal.

Doctors at Parkland and later autopsy reports described extensive damage to the right side of his head and brain, with massive blood loss and no realistic chance of survival by the time formal treatment began. In plain terms, JFK died from a severe gunshot wound to the head that destroyed vital brain tissue and led rapidly to cardiopulmonary failure.

Why people still debate “how” he died

Although the basic medical cause of death is clear—a fatal rifle shot to the head—how exactly the attack unfolded has remained a major topic of public argument. Questions about the number of shots, their precise trajectories, the timing captured on the Zapruder film, and where all the shots came from (the depository, the “grassy knoll,” or elsewhere) have fueled conspiracy theories for decades.

Some researchers and commentators argue that inconsistencies in witness testimony, autopsy documentation, and ballistics suggest more than one shooter or a broader plot. Others, including many professional historians, maintain that the available evidence best fits the conclusion that Oswald alone fired the shots that killed Kennedy, and that apparent anomalies can be explained by the chaos and trauma of the event.

Recent record releases and “latest news”

In recent years, U.S. authorities have continued to release formerly classified records related to the assassination, keeping the topic in the news and on forums. A major release of previously withheld materials took place in March 2025, following a presidential directive requiring that remaining classified JFK-assassination records be made public, making more archival documents available to researchers and the public.

These new releases have added detail to the historical record but have not produced a single, definitive new explanation that overturns the core understanding that Kennedy died from shots fired at his motorcade in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. Online discussions and forums still debate what the documents “really” mean, but mainstream historical and legal accounts continue to describe his death as the result of an assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald, with lingering disagreement about whether anyone else was involved.

TL;DR: John F. Kennedy died after being shot—most critically in the head—while riding in an open car during a Dallas motorcade on November 22, 1963; the official view is that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shots from the Texas School Book Depository, though speculation about a wider plot remains intense.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.