Dallas Police Department, Texas
End of Watch: Friday, November 22, 1963
Age: 39
Tour of Duty: 11 years, 3 months
Badge Number: 848
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: November 22, 1963
Weapon Used: Handgun; .38 caliber
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Officer J.D. Tippit was shot and killed while questioning the assassin of President John F. Kennedy at Tenth and Patton Streets.
At approximately 1:14 pm, 45 minutes after President Kennedy was shot, Officer Tippit stopped the suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, who was on foot and fit the general description of the assassin that was being broadcast by the Dallas police radio.
After being summoned by Officer Tippit, Oswald came over to the passenger side of the patrol car, where they spoke through an open window. After a brief conversation, Officer Tippit got out of his car, and as he was walking toward the front of his patrol car, Oswald suddenly shot him three times at point-blank range with a .38 caliber revolver. After Officer Tippit fell, he was shot in the head by Oswald, which proved to be the fatal shot.
A citizen who witnessed the shooting used the police radio in Officer Tippit's patrol car to alert other officers of the shooting.
Oswald was apprehended hiding in a movie theater after he was seen by an alert citizen who witnessed the shooting of Officer Tippit.
Oswald was shot and killed two days later by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby while in police custody.
Officer Tippit was a United States Army WWII veteran and bronze star recipient and served with the Dallas Police Department for 11 years. He is survived by his wife, daughter, two sons, parents, four brothers, two sisters, and his grandmother.
In January 1964, Officer Tippit was posthumously awarded the Medal of Valor from the National Police Hall of Fame and also received the Police Medal of Honor, the Police Cross, and the Citizen's Traffic Commission Award of Heroism.
He is buried in Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.