I was in 7th grade lunch homeroom when we heard about it. They put the radio on the intercom and we sat in class the rest of the day and listened too it. I still have my hometown and Birmingham News newspapers from that next day.
It seems like a lifetime away now but I still remember it well.
It was lunch period and another student, Tim Sutton came up to me and said “the president’s been shot”. This was in a very conservative part of the country, the Florida Panhandle, and within seconds everyone knew.
The first reaction was mostly, relief and happiness, as if Castro had been shot. I noticed a girl who I knew as probably the only Catholic girl in school began to quietly cry.
After maybe 15 minutes, it began to sink in and the mood changed. I recall more than one saying “I am glad he was shot but hope he doesn’t die”.
Later the principal came over the intercom and told us he had died. Everyone by then was in a somber mood and it was clear by then that no one really wanted him to have died.