26 SEPT 2026History
What time was JFK shot? 22 November 1963, 12:30 Dallas time
President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, at 12:30 local time on 22 November 1963, and pronounced dead at 13:00. In UTC: 18:30 and 19:00.
Short answer: President John F. Kennedy was shot at 12:30 on 22 November 1963, Central Standard Time, as his motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. That is 18:30 UTC. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 13:00 local time (19:00 UTC).
The motorcade
The President and Jacqueline Kennedy rode in an open Lincoln with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife. The route took them past the Texas School Book Depository and into Dealey Plaza, where the crowd thinned.
12:30
Shots were fired from the Depository. Kennedy was hit in the neck and the head; Connally was seriously wounded. The car raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital, a few minutes away.
13:00
Doctors at Parkland could not save him. The time of death was given as 1:00 p.m. The announcement was made to the press about half an hour later. Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office aboard Air Force One that afternoon.
Two minutes, not one
People asking "what time did JFK die" and "what time was JFK shot" are asking about two different minutes, thirty apart. The Warren Commission's report gives both. The shooting is the one fixed at 12:30.