Video: 'JOHN LENNON DEAD COSELL & NIGHTLINE REPORTS 12-8-1980'

(Monday, December 8, 1980, approximately 10:50 p.m. EST; during the Murder of John Lennon) — English musician John Lennon, formerly of The Beatles, was fatally shot by a deranged fan tonight while entering the archway of The Dakota, his residence on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in New York City.

Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, were returning to The Dakota after spending several hours at the Record Plant recording studio to say goodnight to their five-year-old son, Sean, before going on to the Stage Deli restaurant for a late meal.

The Lennons exited their limousine on West 72nd Street instead of driving into the more secure courtyard of The Dakota, passed the gunman and walked toward the archway entrance of the building.

As Ono passed by, the gunman nodded at her. As Lennon passed by, he glanced briefly at him, appearing to recognize him from when had left The Dakota at approximately 5:00 p.m. EST. From the sidewalk behind them, the gunman took aim at the center of Lennon’s back and fired five hollow-point bullets at him from a Charter Arms .38 Special revolver, in rapid succession, from a distance of about nine or ten feet.

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One bullet missed Lennon and struck a window of The Dakota building. The other four hit Lennon in the back and shoulder, puncturing his left lung and left subclavian artery.

Lennon, bleeding profusely from external wounds and from his mouth, staggered up five steps to the security/reception area where he said, “I’m shot! I’m shot!” He then fell to the floor, scattering cassettes that he had been carrying.

Officers Steven Spiro and Peter Cullen were the first policemen to arrive at the scene; they were at 72nd Street and Broadway when they heard a report of shots fired at The Dakota. The officers arrived around two minutes later and found the gunman standing very calmly on West 72nd Street. The gunman had dropped the revolver to the ground and was taken into custody without incident.

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Realizing the extent of Lennon’s injuries, responding police officers decided not to wait for an ambulance and immediately carried Lennon into their squad car. He was placed in the back seat and rushed to Roosevelt Hospital on West 59th Street.

Reportedly, officer James Moran asked, “Are you John Lennon?” to which Lennon nodded and replied, “Yes. According to another account by officer Bill Gamble, Lennon nodded slightly and tried to speak, but could only manage to make a gurgling sound, and lost consciousness shortly thereafter.

A few minutes before 11:00 p.m., Moran arrived at Roosevelt Hospital with Lennon in his squad car. Moran was carrying Lennon on his back and onto a gurney, demanding a doctor for a multiple gunshot wound victim. When Lennon was brought in, he was not breathing, and had no pulse.

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Three doctors, a nurse, and two or three other medical attendants worked on Lennon for 10 to 20 minutes in an attempt to resuscitate him. As a last resort, the doctors cut open Lennon’s chest and attempted manual heart massage to restore circulation, but they quickly discovered that the damage to the blood vessels above and around Lennon’s heart from the multiple bullet wounds was too great.

Lennon was officially pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m. His body was then taken to the city morgue at 520 First Avenue for an autopsy.

The cause of death was reported on his death certificate as “hypovolemic shock, caused by the loss of more than 80 percent of blood volume due to multiple through-and-through gunshot wounds to the left shoulder and left chest resulting in damage to the left lung, the left subclavian artery, and both the aorta and aortic arch.”

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According to the report, even with prompt medical treatment, no person could have lived for more than a few minutes with multiple bullet wounds affecting all of the major arteries and veins around the heart.

Lennon’s death triggered an outpouring of grief around the world on an unprecedented scale. His remains were cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York, but no funeral would be held.

Ono sent word to the chanting crowd outside The Dakota that their singing had kept her awake; she asked that they re-convene at the Central Park Bandshell the following Sunday, Dec. 14, 1980, for ten minutes of silent prayer at 2:00 p.m. EST.