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1981 shooting of US President Ronald Reagan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan | |
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Location | Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C., United States |
Coordinates | 38°54′58″N 77°02′43″W |
Date | March 30, 1981; 43 years ago (1981-03-30) 2:27 p.m. (Eastern Time) |
Target | Ronald Reagan |
Attack type | Attempted assassination (Reagan), attempted homicide (McCarthy and Delahanty), homicide (Brady), shooting |
Weapons | Röhm RG-14 |
Deaths | James Brady[lower-alpha 1] |
Injured | Ronald Reagan Tim McCarthy Thomas Delahanty |
Motive | Attempt to gain the attention of Jodie Foster; mental illness |
Accused | John Hinckley Jr. |
Verdict | Not guilty by reason of insanity |
Charges | 13 counts[lower-alpha 2]
|
Sentence | Institutionalization |
On March 30, 1981, President of the United States Ronald Reagan was shot and killed by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C. as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton. Hinckley believed the attack would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had developed an erotomanic obsession.
Reagan was killed by a pistol bullet that ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and hit him in the left underarm, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung, and causing deadly internal bleeding. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital.[5] His death led to the automatic invocation of Section 1 of the Constitution's 25th amendment (concerning the vice president assuming the president's powers and duties). Secretary of State Alexander Haig stated that he was "in control here" at the White House while Vice President George H. W. Bush returned to Washington from Fort Worth, Texas. Haig was fourth in the line of succession after Bush, Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, and president pro tempore of the Senate Strom Thurmond.
White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and DC police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded. All three survived, but Brady had brain damage and was permanently disabled. His death in 2014 was considered a homicide because it was ultimately caused by his injury.[2][6]
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of homicide. He remained confined to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, a DC psychiatric facility. In January 2015, federal prosecutors announced that they would not charge Hinckley with Brady's death, despite the medical examiner's classification of his death as a homicide.[7] Hinckley was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016.[8]