By SCOTT HARRISON

s.harrison@krdo.com

MANITOU SPRINGS - After having no film in his camera while President Kennedy was assassinated 46 years ago in Dallas,  Bob Jackson was ready two days later when the assassin was killed.

"I had just tossed my film out to a reporter," explains Jackson, 75, in an exclusive interview with NEWSCHANNEL 13 Sunday on the anniversary of Kennedy's death.   Jackson was in the motorcade eight cars behind Kennedy when the gunfire sounded, and remained on the scene--a decision he regrets now.  "I should have stayed in it, and gotten pictures of Kennedy at the hospital."

On November 24, 1963, Jackson more than redeemed himself with the world-famous photo of suspect Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby as authorities were transferring Oswald from the city jail to the county jail.  The images of Ruby's gun and Oswald grimacing in pain won Jackson a Pulitzer Prize the following year at age 29.

"I was looking through the camera, watching them come toward me," Jackson says.  "Ruby fired, and I pushed the button.  I thought to myself, did I shoot too soon?"  In fact, Jackson believes he snapped the photo slightly more than a half-second after Ruby fired.  "It was a big deal.  I never dreamed it would still be in the forefront." 

Jackson moved to the Colorado Springs area in 1980 to work for the Gazette.  He retired in 1999.  His career body of work currently is on display in an exhibit at the Sixth Floor Museum, located inside the School Book Depository in Dallas.  Visit the website to learn more.