On March 30, 1981, President Reagan exited the Washington Hilton Hotel at 2:27 p.m., walking toward his limousine after addressing AFL-CIO representatives. Behind a rope line, just fifteen feet away, 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr. obsessed with 18-year-old Jodie Foster and hoping to attract her attention, opened fire with a .22-caliber revolver.
Six shots rang out in 1.7 seconds:
* James Brady, the White House press secretary, was hit in the head and critically injured.
*Officer Thomas Delahanty was struck in the neck, falling on Brady.
*Secret Service and bystanders sprang into action. Agent Jerry Parr pushed Reagan to safety; agent Tom McCarthy stepped into the line of fire, taking a bullet to his chest.
*The remaining shots hit the limousine and Reagan, the last grazing his rib and lung, stopping just 25 millimeters from his heart.
Hinckley was subdued. Reagan survived, rushed to George Washington University Hospital, and recovered fully. McCarthy and Delahanty mostly recovered (Delahanty retired due to permanent injuries), but Brady was left with lasting physical and cognitive impairments. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and released in 2016.
If you want a deeper dive, I wrote about the full event here: https://open.substack.com/pub/aid2000/p/hare-brained-history-vol-81-the-attempted?r=4mmzre&utm\_medium=ios
by aid2000iscool
13 Comments
This photo goes hard.
The Secret Service Agent with the Uzi is badass.
Considering where we are today, the full event feels surreal in it’s vividness.
I knew they carried Uzis in briefcases, but the special molded case lying open really sells it here.
>The remaining shots hit the limousine and Reagan, the last grazing his rib and lung, stopping just 25 millimeters from his heart.
So close 😞
Just read that James Brady died in 2014 and his death was ruled a homicide and the result of the gunshot wound suffered in this incident.
Presumably Reagan is under the pile on left behind Mr. Uzi? Or is that the shooter?
goddammit hinckley, so much suffering because you couldn’t bother getting a larger caliber
The would-be assassin served his time and was released. He makes music and is on X https://x.com/JohnHinckley20. Possibly here on Reddit too.
Crazy James Brady survived the shooting but “Brady’s death in 2014 was eventually ruled a homicide, caused by the gunshot wound he received 33 years earlier in 1981.”
Bro that guy with the Uzi bout to fuck shit up
Some people look to be in a frenzy, while others look like they’re just chilling on a day out.
Such an interesting shot.
I remember the day this happened. It is my earliest full length political memory.
This shows how fast the Secret Service can get a President out of somewhere when there’s a threat on his life. In the car. Gone. No stopping for shoes. Just saying