Ethan Rhodes
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent civil rights leader, was assassinated by an assassin's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he underwent an unsuccessful resuscitation attempt and was pronounced dead less than an hour later, at 7:05 p.m. Conspiracy theories have circulated regarding King's death, including the false claim that a photograph shows him alive in a hospital bed after the shooting. In reality, the photo in question was taken in 1958, ten years before his assassination, when King was recovering from a stabbing incident.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of assassination | April 4, 1968 |
| Time of shooting | 6:01 pm |
| Time of arrival at hospital | 6:15 pm |
| Hospital name | St. Joseph's Hospital |
| Distance of hospital from the site of the shooting | 1.9 miles |
| Ambulance travel time | 4 minutes |
| Room number at the hospital | Room 1 |
| Status on arrival | Unconscious, alive |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound to the chin and neck |
| Pronounced dead at | 7:05 pm |
| Autopsy location | John Gaston Hospital |
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What You'll Learn
- Martin Luther King Jr. was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968
- He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, located 1.9 miles from the Lorraine Motel
- Dr. Ted Gaylon was the first to examine King and found he was alive but with a weak pulse
- Doctors attempted to resuscitate King but were unsuccessful
- King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m., less than an hour after being shot
Martin Luther King Jr. was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent American civil rights activist, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King was in Memphis to support a strike by sanitation workers, and he had just delivered his famous "'I've Been to the Mountaintop' speech" at the Mason Temple the previous day.
At around 6:01 p.m. CST, King was standing on the balcony of Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel when he was struck by a bullet. The shot was fired from a bathroom window across the street at a rooming house on South Main Street. King was hit in the neck and chin, and the bullet caused severe wounds to the lower right side of his face. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was examined by Dr. Ted Gaylon, who found that King had a weak pulse and irregular breathing. Despite the efforts of multiple doctors, King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. at the age of 39.
The alleged assassin, James Earl Ray, was an escaped convict from the Missouri State Penitentiary. Ray was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport on June 8, 1968, and extradited to the United States. He pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. However, Ray later made multiple attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and claimed that he was not the one who fired the shot that killed King. Ray died in prison in 1998, and conspiracy theories and allegations surrounding King's assassination have persisted.
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He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, located 1.9 miles from the Lorraine Motel
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent American civil rights activist, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, located 1.9 miles from the Lorraine Motel.
King was still alive when he arrived at the hospital, but he was unconscious and had a weak pulse and irregular breathing. Doctors worked quickly to save his life, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m., less than an hour after he was shot.
The alleged assassin, James Earl Ray, was arrested on June 8, 1968, at London's Heathrow Airport and charged with the crime. Ray pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, but he later made multiple attempts to withdraw his plea, claiming he was not directly responsible for the shooting.
Conspiracy theories surrounding King's death have persisted, with some believing that his assassination was the result of a conspiracy and that he did not actually die from the shooting but was later smothered in his hospital bed. However, these theories have been largely discredited, and the official cause of death remains a single gunshot wound to the chin and neck, as confirmed by an autopsy report.
The distance between the Lorraine Motel and St. Joseph's Hospital was a mere 1.9 miles, and yet it was a journey that marked the final moments of a civil rights icon whose legacy continues to inspire and influence generations.
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Dr. Ted Gaylon was the first to examine King and found he was alive but with a weak pulse
Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent civil rights activist, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. He was immediately taken to the nearest hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, located just 1.9 miles from the motel.
Dr. Ted Gaylon was the first physician to examine King. He determined that King was still alive by listening to his heart with a stethoscope and feeling a weak pulse at his wrist. Dr. Gaylon also observed that King had large wounds on his face and neck but was not bleeding excessively, likely due to hypovolemic shock.
Despite the swift response and the efforts of the medical team, including Dr. John Reisser and Dr. Rufus Brown, who joined Dr. Gaylon in attempting to save King's life, their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m., less than an hour after being shot.
The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the chin and neck, which resulted in a total transection of the lower cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord. This type of injury was considered fatal very soon after it occurred.
It is important to address the existence of conspiracy theories surrounding King's death, including the false claim that a photograph shows him alive in a hospital bed after the shooting. This image was actually taken in 1958, ten years before his assassination, when he was recovering from a stabbing injury.
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Doctors attempted to resuscitate King but were unsuccessful
Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent civil rights leader, was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was shot at 6:01 p.m. and arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital at around 6:15 p.m., still alive but unconscious.
Dr. Ted Gaylon was the first physician to examine King. He found that King had a weak pulse and was breathing irregularly. He also observed large wounds on King's face and neck, but there was minimal bleeding, likely due to hypovolemic shock. Dr. Gaylon was soon joined by Dr. John Reisser and Dr. Rufus Brown, who managed King's airway by 6:18 p.m.
At 6:22 p.m., Dr. Jerome Barrasso performed a tracheostomy, and by 6:30 p.m., he and neurosurgeon Fredrick Gioia took over the resuscitation attempt. Despite their efforts, King could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.
The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the chin and neck, which resulted in the transection of the lower cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord, among other structures in the neck. The bullet entered through the right mandible, shattering it, before travelling through the right neck and into the right supraclavicular fossa. It injured multiple blood vessels and crossed the midline before lodging near the left scapula.
Conspiracy theories have circulated regarding King's death, including the false claim that he was suffocated with a pillow in the hospital. However, the autopsy report, reviewed by a panel of forensic pathologists, confirmed that his death was a result of the gunshot wound.
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King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m., less than an hour after being shot
Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent civil rights activist, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was immediately rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, located just 1.9 miles from the Lorraine Motel.
At 6:09 p.m., about eight minutes after being shot, King was lifted onto a stretcher and placed into an ambulance, escorted by several police officers on motorcycles. En route to the hospital, King was still alive but unconscious, with a weak pulse and irregular breathing. He arrived at the hospital emergency room at 6:15 p.m., just 14 minutes after being shot.
Dr. Ted Gaylon was the first physician to examine King and determined that he was alive, with a weak radial pulse. King had a large wound on his right face and neck but was not bleeding excessively, likely due to hypovolemic shock. An operating room was immediately alerted, and other doctors soon joined the attempt to save King's life.
Despite the swift response and the doctors' best efforts, King succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m., less than an hour after being shot. His body was then moved to John Gaston Hospital, where an autopsy determined that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chin and neck, severing the lower cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord.
Conspiracy theories surrounding King's death have circulated for years, including false claims that he was suffocated in the hospital or that the US government was involved in a plot to kill him. However, the medical evidence and eyewitness accounts confirm that King died from the gunshot wound shortly after arriving at St. Joseph's Hospital.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Martin Luther King Jr. arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital alive on April 4, 1968, at 6:15 p.m., just 14 minutes after being shot.
King was unconscious, had a weak pulse, and was breathing irregularly. He had a large wound on his right face and neck but was not bleeding excessively, likely due to hypovolemic shock.
No, despite the efforts of multiple doctors, King died less than an hour later at 7:05 p.m. The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the chin and neck, which severed his spinal cord.
