A Timeline of Dr. Martin Luther King's Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered worldwide as one of America’s most influential civil rights activists. Known for his steadfast commitment to nonviolence and civil disobedience, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and became the leading voice of the civil rights movement. Tragically, his remarkable life was cut short at the age of just 39, when he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on 4th April 1968, at precisely 6:01 p.m. CST. Despite being rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Memphis, he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.
The man identified as King’s assassin was James Earl Ray, an escaped convict from the Missouri State Penitentiary. After the shooting, Ray managed to flee the country, prompting an international manhunt. He was eventually apprehended on 8th June 1968 at Heathrow Airport in London, and subsequently extradited to the United States. On 10th March 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to the murder and received a sentence of 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. Later on, Ray attempted to retract his guilty plea and pushed for a jury trial, but his requests were denied. He died behind bars in 1998.
Interestingly, doubts about Ray’s guilt have persisted for decades. Many, including some members of King’s own family, suspect that Ray was a scapegoat and argue the assassination involved a broader conspiracy, implicating figures within the U.S. government, organised crime, and the Memphis police force. Although the U.S. Department of Justice firmly denies these allegations, the King family did secure a court victory that supported their claims of a conspiracy.
King’s death marked one of several high-profile assassinations in the turbulent 1960s, an era marred by profound political and social upheaval. Beginning with President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the tragic pattern continued with Malcolm X in 1965, King’s own assassination in April 1968, and concluded just two months later with Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in June 1968. These shocking events collectively reshaped American society and left an enduring legacy that continues to provoke discussion and reflection.
Timeline of the Day – Part 1
On April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray awoke to news that would dramatically alter the course of American history. From local Memphis television broadcasts and that morning's Commercial Appeal newspaper, Ray discovered that Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was staying at the Lorraine Motel, specifically in room 306. Ray, lodging at the nearby New Rebel Motel, quickly recognised that Bessie Brewer’s Rooming House was conveniently adjacent to the Lorraine Motel.
By 3:30 pm, Ray made his move. He checked into Bessie Brewer's Rooming House under the alias "John Willard," initially renting room number 8. However, keen on optimising his vantage point, he soon requested to change rooms, selecting 5B for its clear view overlooking King’s room. Critically, the bathroom window in this room offered the most direct line of sight to the Lorraine Motel's balcony.
Half an hour later, around 4:00 pm, Ray went to the York Arms Company store, purchasing binoculars for $41.55. He returned to his newly secured position at Bessie Brewer’s and waited patiently, observing closely.
At 5:55 pm, Dr King emerged from his room alongside Reverend Ralph Abernathy, readying themselves for a dinner hosted by local minister Reverend Billy Kyles. King stood casually on the motel balcony, engaging in a friendly conversation with his driver, Solomon Jones, who waited in the courtyard below.
At precisely 6:01 pm, tragedy struck. As Dr King leaned slightly forward over the balcony railing, a single shot from a high-powered .30-06 rifle tore through the air, striking him on the right side of his face and neck. The force of the bullet knocked King backwards instantly. As he collapsed onto the balcony, blood poured profusely from the wound. Those nearby rushed to his side, discovering he still had a faint pulse. They quickly placed a pillow beneath his head, covered the wound with a towel, and draped a blanket over his torso. Though his mouth moved slightly, King never spoke again, rapidly losing consciousness.
Immediately following the gunshot, James Earl Ray abandoned his sniper’s perch at Bessie Brewer’s. In his haste, he discarded his rifle, wrapped hastily in a green blanket, and a suitcase at the doorway of the nearby Canipe’s Amusement Company, disappearing swiftly into the evening.
6:03 pm
The urgent call crackles over police radios: a shooting has occurred. Officers immediately respond, aware of the gravity of the situation unfolding.
6:09 pm
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is swiftly transported to St. Joseph's Hospital, accompanied by his trusted friend, Ralph Abernathy. Police motorcycles clear the path, ensuring rapid passage. Inside the ambulance, medics fit King with a mechanical respirator, delivering crucial oxygen to his lungs and supporting his compromised breathing.
6:16 pm
Martin Luther King Jr. was brought unconscious into Room 1 of the emergency department at St. Joseph’s Hospital. He had irregular breathing and a weak but noticeable pulse at his wrist. He had sustained a significant wound to the right side of his face and neck, although bleeding was minimal upon his arrival, likely due to hypovolemic shock caused by blood loss.
The hospital’s surgical team was immediately notified. The first doctor to examine King was Dr Ted Gaylon, who confirmed King was alive by listening to his heartbeat and feeling his weak wrist pulse. Dr Gaylon quickly placed an intravenous catheter into a vein in King’s left arm to administer intravenous fluids. Another physician, Dr John Reisser, simultaneously inserted another intravenous line into a vein in King’s left ankle to rapidly deliver non-cross-matched blood.
At 6:18 pm, Chief Surgical Resident Dr Rufus Brown joined the team to manage King’s airway. Given the location of the gunshot wound near the airway, Dr Brown made an incision to perform a surgical tracheostomy, securing King’s airway. At 6:22 pm, attending surgeon Dr Jerome Barrasso arrived to assist Dr Brown, and they completed the tracheostomy procedure in around five minutes.
Dr Barrasso then took charge of the treatment. At 6:30 pm, neurosurgeon Dr Fredrick Gioia arrived, and together they assessed the wound above King’s collarbone to locate and control internal bleeding. To improve their view, they extended the existing wound downwards toward the clavicle. They found significant damage to King’s right subclavian artery, external jugular vein, and vertebral artery, all caused by the bullet. The surgical team used clamps and stitches to manage bleeding.
They also noted that King’s right lung was visible through the neck wound, indicating potential internal bleeding. A chest tube was inserted immediately, draining approximately 1000 mL of blood. During further examination, the surgeons discovered the bullet had severely damaged the spinal column between the C7 and T1 vertebrae, completely severing King’s spinal cord at that location. They could feel the bullet lodged near his left shoulder blade. Dr Gioia informed the team that if King survived, the injuries would leave him quadriplegic.
By 6:45 pm, King’s blood pressure was undetectable, and his electrocardiogram (ECG) showed only faint signs of heart activity. The medical team began external cardiac massage and injected epinephrine directly into King’s heart muscle in an effort to restart it. Additional specialists—chest surgeon Dr Joe Wilhite and internist Dr Julian Fleming—were consulted, but both doctors concluded that King showed no signs of life. Despite ongoing emergency efforts, including fluids, ventilation, and cardiac massage, King’s ECG eventually flatlined, and his pupils were fixed and dilated.
Dr Barrasso officially declared Martin Luther King Jr. deceased at 7:05 pm.
King's body was taken to the John Gaston Hospital in Memphis and a postmortem performed by Dr Jerry Francisco, a pathologist from the University of Tennessee and the Shelby County Medical Examiner. He recorded a gunshot which entered through the right mandible, which shattered on entry. The bullet had then traveled through King’s right neck, entering the right supraclavicular fossa (shown in the image below marked B). There it injured the external jugular vein, vertebral artery, and subclavian artery on the right before crossing through the right pleural space. It then crossed the midline and transected the spinal cord at the junction of the cervical and thoracic cord. Afterwards, it lodged in the back near King’s left scapula. Franscisco retrieved the remains of the bullet and gave it to the Memphis police. The cause of death was hemodynamic collapse from hemorrhagic shock. Had he survived, the spinal cord injury would have left King quadriplegic.
Jesse Jackson, a friend of King, recalls the day of the assassination:
King was staying at his regular Memphis haunt, the Lorraine motel. It was 6pm and the group were preparing to head out for dinner. King was standing on the balcony outside room 306. As Jackson, who was in the car park eight feet below, tells it: “He said, ‘You’re late for dinner … You don’t even have on a shirt and tie.’ I said, ‘Doc, the prerequisite for eating is appetite, not a tie.’ He laughed and said, ‘You’re crazy.’ We joked around that way.”
King turned to Ben Branch, a saxophonist standing next to Jackson, and asked him to perform his favourite song, Take My Hand, Precious Lord, at a rally later that night: “Play it real pretty.” Then came the shot. King was hurled back violently, blood gushed from his jaw and neck as his spinal cord was severed. His tie was ripped off by the force of the bullet.
Jackson heard police shout, “Get low! Get low!”, and pour into the scene with guns drawn. He adds: “We were traumatised to see him lying there soaked in blood, 39 years old. He’d done so much to make America better, built bridges, sacrificed his livelihood, sacrificed his life. I remember Ralph Abernathy coming out and saying, ‘Get back my friend, my friend, don’t leave us now,’ but Dr King was dead on impact.”
Jackson walked to his room and called King’s wife, Coretta. “I said to her I think he’s been shot in the shoulder. I couldn’t say what I saw. She had a certain resolve, a certain understanding of the danger of the mission. She’d seen him stabbed, she’d heard the threats. She knew the price you paid for trying to make America better. She had made peace with the fact he could be killed, they both of them could be killed, the house could be bombed. She’d made peace with it over a 13-year period.”
King was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead about an hour after being shot. It was a seismic shock. “In many ways it redefined America: before and after Martin Luther King,” Jackson says, claiming: “When he was killed, the FBI in Atlanta jumped on the tables in jubilation.” But the news also unleashed fury across the country. Riots broke out in more than a hundred cities, leaving 39 people dead, more than 2,600 injured and 21,000 arrested, with damage estimated at $65m.
