Hinckley, now 67, shot the US president as he left the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981. He said he wanted to impress actress Jodie Foster, whom he had seen in the movie “Taxi Driver.”
One of his bullets bounced off the armored presidential limousine, hitting Ronald Reagan in the chest, close to the heart. Reagan survived the attack, but had to undergo surgery for a lung perforation. Before the surgery, Reagan jokingly asked if the surgeon was a Republican.
The chaos just after the attack
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Three other people were injured, including James Brady, the then White House spokesman, who was partially paralyzed and had speech problems. Hinckley did not try to escape and was arrested on the spot.
In a court case in 1982, Hinckley was found innocent on the basis of insanity. He stayed in a psychiatric hospital until 2016, after which he was placed under judicial supervision and lived with his mother in Williamsburg. This meant that he was not allowed to have contact with the Reagan and Foster families and that he was also required to carry a GPS tracker. Those conditions have now been lifted completely, despite earlier protests from former President Reagan’s daughter.
Police photo of John Hinckley, Jr.
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