Video: 'Ronald Reagan Shot Raw Tape'
(Monday, March 30, 1981, 2:27 p.m. EST; during the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan) — U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by a lone gunman today as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Reagan was seriously wounded by a .22 Long Rifle 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 serious internal bleeding.
The President was close to death upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital but was stabilized in the emergency room, then underwent emergency exploratory surgery (at 3:24 p.m. EST). He recovered and was released from the hospital on April 11.
Video: 'President Ronald Reagan Assassination Attempt CNN Coverage 3-30-1981' (live coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. EST; first mention of assassination attempt at 32:46)
No formal invocation of presidential succession took place, although Secretary of State Alexander Haig stated that he was “in control here” while Vice President George H. W. Bush returned to Washington from Fort Worth, Texas.
White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and a District of Columbia police officer, Thomas Delahanty, were also wounded. All three survived, but Brady suffered brain damage and was permanently disabled. His death in 2014 was considered a homicide because it was ultimately caused by this injury.
Video: 'President Ronald Reagan Assassination - 5hr. News Coverage'
John Hinckley, Jr., 25, fired six shots from a Röhm RG-14 .22 caliber pistol, striking Brady and Delahanty with the first two bullets, McCarthy with the fourth and the presidential limousine with the last two shots. The sixth bullet ricocheted off of the limo and struck Reagan.
The third round overshot the president, instead hitting the window of a building across the street.
Hinckley, who believed the attack would impress actress Jodie Foster, 18, with whom he had become obsessed, was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of attempting to assassinate the president.
Hinckley remained confined to a 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. He was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016.
