Bob K. Carroll is the man located behind Oswald with no hat

Bob K. Carroll: A  Behind-The-Scenes Force in Taking Down Oswald

Introduction

Detective Bob K. Carroll was on duty with the Dallas Police Department on November 22, 1963 and played a significant role in the capture and arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theater.  Although Carroll never finished high school, he joined the Dallas Police Department.  During his employment, he worked in the Radio and Patrol Division, the Accident Prevention Bureau, and the Special Service Bureau.  While assigned to the Special Service Bureau, he worked in the Narcotics Section, Criminal Intelligence Section, and Vice Section, as well as the Administrative Section.  On the day of JFK’s assassination, he was serving in the Administrative Section.  At the time of his active participation in Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest, Carroll had been a Dallas Police Department veteran for over ten years. 

https://youtu.be/58y_ZofCXe8

Lee Harvey Oswald's Revolver 

Carroll in neither his testimony or key FBI page mentions anything about him touching or having any altercations with Lee Harvey Oswald during his arrest. However, in this video, he describes an altercation with Oswald that resulted in Carroll punching Oswald in the face while he was being arrested. This video came years after as I could not find an orginal date, but was posted in 2010.

One item Carroll did investigate and describe in his documents was the revolver Oswald had on him at the time of his arrest. In Carroll's folder, he describes the revolver as being the only weapon on him, and he links it to the murder of Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit. 

The first diagram shows the connections and mentions that Carroll had with the murder of JFK. In the folders of people involved in arresting Oswald as well as Carrroll's show who Carroll was mentioned by or with by connecting Carroll's bubble with a line to other person's bubble.

The second diagram shows Oswald and key terms and people that were mentioned with him in the Bob K. Carroll FBI folder for the JFK murder held by the National Archives. All the words that were used with "Oswald" and connects them. Some interesting words to be connected to Oswald were violating, assaulting and handcuffing.

The final diagram shows the connections between Oswald and Carroll in Bob K. Carroll's folder. Any word or person involved with "Carroll" AND "Oswald" is shown through a conneection by a line.

These diagrams really help look at the involvement Carroll had during the incident and how prevalent he actually was. 

700 Main St. Dallas TX

Carroll's description of Oswald

Carroll describing the scene at the arrest

Bob K. Carroll Testimony to Warren Commisson

Assignmens of the Day

Bob K. Caroll gave his testimony to the Warren Commission on the day of April 3, 1964. Carroll talks about what his assignments were on the day of the assassination of President Kennedy. Carroll goes on to say that he was assigned to the block of 700 block of Main Street where he stood on the curb with uniformed officers. Carroll was a dectovive and went on to say that there was a detective assigned to each block.

Assassination

After Carroll had heard about the assasination attempt on Presiddent Kennedy, he reported back to the office and was immediately sent to the scene at the Texas School Book Depository. Carroll was assigned to seach the basement, and when he came back up to grab flashlights, he was told that an officer had been shot as well. After hearing this, Carroll asked for permission to tend to the the scene in Oak Cliff and was granted permission. He took K.E. Lyons with him to the scene of where Officer Tippit had been shot. 

Finding Oswald

Carroll's first place to check in the Theatre was the balcony. He and Lyons checked the balcony and found no one that matched the description the office had given them. As they were retreating from the balcony, Carroll describes hearing "Here he is" very loudly and immediately sprinting to the main level. Carroll then came to the right of Oswald with Sgt. Hill approaching from the left and Ray Hawkins from behind. 

Arresting Oswald

Carroll described the scene of arresting Lee Harvey Oswald as a "struggle," and everyone who had converged on Oswald was involved with retaining him. Carroll went on to say that when he looked down, he was able to see a gun pointed directly at him, which he was able to possess before any harm was done to anyone on the scene. Carroll then goes on to say that he did not see anyone strike Oswald in the face. 

Aftermath

After the officers were able to put handcuffs on Oswald, Carroll described the scene as hectic. Carroll reports that Oswald was constantly screaming out that he was going to protest the police brutality and that what the officers had done to him was iilegal. Carroll noted that there was a large crowd outside the theater once the arresting officers made their exit. Caroll also reported Oswald continuously saying that the only thing he had done was carrying a pistol. Carroll describes being present when the pistol was unloaded and says there were six bullets in the chamber. 

Lee Harvey Oswald Mugshot

Conclusion

After being able to research and explore the involvement of Bob K. Carroll, I was able to come up with the conclusion that he was very important to the findings of Lee Harvey Oswald. Carroll made some very important decisions during the day of November 22, 1963 that allowed for the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald. If Carroll would have waited to go to the tavern, when would he have found out about the president being shot? How about if he had not been the one to go upstairs in the Texas Schoolbook Depository, would he have requested permission to go investigate the scene where Officer Tippit was shot? Officer Carroll made many key decsions that may go unoticed, but were very important in the few hours Oswald was lose.