is true or not, because james earl ray said it, i would say it s a pure toss-up. when a police team stopped for a rest break at this firehouse, patrolman gene douglas was left in a car outside to monitor the radio. i heard a noise, like a shot, well, it was more like a rifle. that s when everybody inside the firehouse started running out saying king s been shot, king s been shot. douglas reached for his radio mic. we have information king has been shot at the lorraine. captain ray raced out of police headquarters heading to the scene. there, on south main street, he saw a bundle abandoned in the recessed doorway of a record store, right below the rooming house.
if he hadn t seen somebody, why didn t he just throw it in the car and take off? a good question, one i asked his brother jerry ray. that was later to lead to him. that s my opinion, that s his opinion. in london, after james earl ray was caught, scotland yard detective alec east was assigned to guard him. east told the house hearing this in 1978. i recall he said to me that he had seen a policeman or a police vehicle and panicked and had thrown the gun away, and that his fingerprints would obviously be found on this weapon. as soon as he heard this, ray denied it. i never discussed the case with any english policeman. so all the statements in there are inaccurate. but the panic story is plausible. there was a memphis policeman outside, near the doorway. patrolman gene douglas left to man the radio in his squad car. we have information that king has been shot at the lorraine.
douglas turned back when other officers called to him. he never saw ray or anyone else hiding in the doorway. yet had that bundle not been left behind, james earl ray might never have been identified or caught. if it hadn t been the fact that he came out of that building not knowing there was a policeman at that fire station, and when he did it and he come running out with that bundle, and you know, i do know from years of experience, criminals, they know what they ve done. nobody else does. but it s on their mind what they just did. so when he saw the policeman, he knew he had just shot somebody and he wanted to get away. and he dropped that bundle and had there not been a policeman or anybody there, he would have been gone. instead, james earl ray would spend the rest of his life in prison. he never quit fighting to reverse his guilty plea, and never gave up trying to escape once again. every time he got ready to
douglas called in that first alert. then he got out of the patrol car. i came out here and started running down this way. okay. so you start running down this way. why this way? when i heard the shot, i couldn t tell exactly, you know, where it was coming from. i didn t see any other place that it could have come from. see the older green mustang parked by the lamp post on this day just as we re walking by? that s where james earl ray s mustang was parked that evening. did you see anything? i didn t see anybody or any cars moving or anything at that time. this is the corner where he dropped bundle, right? right. because the doorway is set back from the sidewalk, anyone there would have been hidden from the officer s view. where did you think he stopped approximately running? i would say probably about this far. so what is that, 20, 30 feet? uh-huh.
ray on it. everyone wanted a guilty plea except me. in terms of whether something is true or not, because james earl ray said it, i would say it s a pure toss-up. when a police team stopped for a rest break at this firehouse, patrolman gene douglas was left in a car outside to monitor the radio. i heard a noise, like a shot, well, it was more like a rifle. that s when everybody inside the firehouse started running out saying king s been shot, king s been shot. douglas reached for his radio mike. we have information king has been shot at the lorraine. captain ray raced out of police headquarters heading to the scene. there, on south main street, he saw a bundle abandoned in the recessed doorway of a record