Robert F. Kennedy dies of gunshot wounds 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 6 1968)

Video: 'Robert F. Kennedy death announcement'

(Thursday, June 6, 1968, 1:44 a.m. PDT; during the Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1968) — Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, the younger brother of slain President John F. Kennedy, died today at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, California.

Kennedy, 42, had been shot and critically wounded the previous day at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles just after he made his victory speech California’s Democratic presidential primary.

Kennedy was exiting the hotel’s Embassy Room ballroom through a kitchen when he turned to his left and shook hands with busboy Juan Romero. The assassin stepped down from a low tray-stacker beside an ice machine, rushed past Kennedy’s escort, maître d’hôtel Karl Uecker, and repeatedly fired what was later identified as a .22 caliber Iver-Johnson Cadet revolver.

Kennedy, shot three times, fell to the floor. One bullet, fired at a range of about 1 inch, entered behind his right ear, dispersing fragments throughout his brain. The other two entered at the rear of his right armpit; one exited from his chest and the other lodged in the back of his neck.

Despite extensive neurosurgery to remove the bullet and bone fragments from his brain, Kennedy was pronounced dead nearly 26 hours after the shooting.

Video: 'Robert F. Kennedy Death Announcement on CBS Radio. June 6, 1968'