The testimony of Lt. Rio S. Pierce was taken at 11:25 a.m., on April
9, 1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. John Hart Ely, member of
the staff of the President's Commission.
Mr. ELY. Would you stand and be sworn?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. PIERCE. I do.
Mr. ELY. Lieutenant, I am here as a representative of the President's
Commission which is looking into all the facts surrounding the
assassination of President Kennedy, and we have been informed that you
might have information which would help us in this inquiry.
Mr. ELY. Would you state your full name, please?
Mr. PIERCE. Rio Sam Pierce.
Mr. ELY. And where do you live?
Mr. PIERCE. 3227 South Edgefield.
Mr. ELY. Could you tell us what your occupation is?
Mr. PIERCE. Officer--police officer.
Mr. ELY. And what rank do you hold?
Mr. PIERCE. Lieutenant.
Mr. ELY. You are a lieutenant with the Dallas Police Department?
Mr. PIERCE. That's right.
Mr. ELY. Could you tell us something about what you did before you
started to work for the police department?
Mr. PIERCE. Well, I was raised on a farm out in West Texas and engaged
in farming practically all of my life up until I went in the Marine
Corps. After I got out of the Marine Corps in 1946, in April I believe
it was, I came to the Dallas Police Department in August 1946.
Mr. ELY. Could you tell us, please, what your job is? What do you
specialize in with the police department?
Mr. PIERCE. I am assigned as a lieutenant in the patrol division out of
the central station.
Mr. ELY. Now, were you on duty on November 22, 1963?
Mr. PIERCE. I was not.
Mr. ELY. Were you in Dallas on that date?
Mr. PIERCE. Part of the day. I went to Ennis, Tex., early that morning
and returned to Dallas about--oh, it was approximately 1 or 1:30 p.m.
Mr. ELY. Did you have anything to do with the investigation of the
killing of either President Kennedy or Officer Tippit?
Mr. PIERCE. No, sir.
Mr. ELY. I will show you three exhibits, one is a map designated Putnam
Exhibit No. 1. The other two are designated Sawyer Deposition Exhibits
A and B, and are copies of the Dallas Police Department's radio logs
for November 22, 1963.
If you will for the moment assume that Officer Tippit was assigned to
patrol the district marked No. 78 on Putnam Exhibit No. 1. Can you
explain why, subsequent to the shooting of the President, Officer
Tippit would be in the district marked 109--specifically at the corner
of Lancaster and Eighth--at 12:54 p.m., and then would later have
proceeded into district 91, which is the area in which he was shot and
killed?
Will you look at these radio logs to see if you can find any calls
which would lead him to take this route? Use any other information at
your disposal to explain to us why he would have gone out of district
78 and over into Nos. 109 and 91?
Mr. PIERCE. Well, I see one transmission here that I think would have
alerted any officer knowing the fact that the President was in town,
at 12:43--I believe this occurred on channel 1--this was taken from
channel 1 recordings at 12:43. It says, "Attention all squads of
downtown area, code 3 to Elm and Houston with caution."
Mr. ELY. Explain what code 3 means.
Mr. PIERCE. That's an emergency. In other words, that is, we have
code 1, which is normal driving; we have code 2, and a code 3. In
other words, code 3 is your top--proceed with haste and caution. The
transmission followed that at 12:44, "Attention all squads, the suspect
in the shooting at Elm and Houston is reported to be an unknown white
male," and gives the description here--would also be an indication to
the squads, and reading this--and I assume that this is the way it
came out--a man would have to draw his own judgment, because it hasn't
told you yet that the President has been shot, but I would think that
any normal police officer would assume that there had been something
pertaining to that, probably, and it would be normal procedure for him
working in the district he is working in to pull into a closer area
to the downtown area, and this district 109, which is, I believe you
stated, that as being at Eighth and Lancaster--it doesn't show here on
your map, but you have no viaduct--that's about the only place you can
cross that river, unless you want to wade.
Mr. ELY. Could you mark on the exhibit with your red pencil where that
viaduct would be?
Mr. PIERCE. Well, you see, Cadiz Street over here in the downtown
area--it also crosses this river and comes on out--may or may not be
nearly correct--it isn't too far from wrong--I don't think so--there is
two viaducts.
Mr. ELY. The red mark you have just drawn is what?
Mr. PIERCE. The red mark is one viaduct that crosses that river and the
area where he was at that time, I will just have to use this--Lancaster
Street comes in something like that--it isn't marked on here.
Mr. ELY. All right.
Mr. PIERCE. But, he wouldn't be too far from that Cadiz Street viaduct.
Anyway, they come over that Cadiz Street viaduct, and also you have
quite a few apartment houses along there on Lancaster and Marsalis. In
other words, there is a large number of people that live over in there.
That seemed to me like he was probably using pretty good judgment in
getting in that particular area because he would have a chance there to
assist from the downtown area there.
Mr. ELY. This transmission to which you referred, the one appearing at
12:43 p.m. on Sawyer Deposition Exhibit B, purports to be directed only
to all squads in the downtown area?
Mr. PIERCE. That's right.
Mr. ELY. But you think it would be normal even for those squads not
located in the downtown area to react?
Mr. PIERCE. I would have to call on my experience in the Dallas Police
Department. Under normal police procedure we request that the squads
stay in their district, but under any emergency situation we do not
require that they stay in their district.
Mr. ELY. So, you would characterize this as a normal course of behavior?
Mr. PIERCE. It looks like a normal procedure to me.
Mr. ELY. All right. Do you think of anything else that you would want
to mention in connection with this, or do you think that just about
covers it?
Mr. PIERCE. Well, like I say, I was on my day off and I would just have
to assume what was happening, but I don't know anything in connection
with Tippit, but in this location, if that is what you are interested
in, that would not be unusual.
Mr. ELY. Well, that's what we are interested in. Thank you very much.
Mr. PIERCE. All right, thank you.