And I looked at my watch, and it was just about 12:30.
And I said, "We are not going to be over 5 minutes late," and the Chief
of Police, I believe, spoke up and said, "We are about 5 minutes away
now."
And so they called on the radio to the Trade Mart that we were 5
minutes away.
And it seemed like almost instantly after that, the first shot was
heard.
Mr. STERN. Now, did you recognize it at the time as a shot?
Mr. SORRELS. I felt it was, because it was too sharp for a backfire
of an automobile. And, to me, it appeared a little bit too loud for a
firecracker.
I just said, "What's that?" And turned around to look up on this
terrace part there, because the sound sounded like it came from the
back and up in that direction.
At that time, I did not look back up to the building, because it was
way back in the back.
Within about 3 seconds, there were two more similar reports. And I
said, Let's get out of here and looked back, all the way back, then,
to where the President's car was, and I saw some confusion, movement
there, and the car just seemed to lurch forward.
And, in the meantime, a motorcycle officer had run up on the right-hand
side and the chief yelled to him, "Anybody hurt?"