On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot in the
chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by a drifter named
John Hinckley Jr.
The president had just finished addressing a labor meeting
at the Washington Hilton Hotel and was walking with his
entourage to his limousine when Hinckley, standing among
a group of reporters, fired six shots at the president, hitting
Reagan and three of his attendants.
White House Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the
head and critically wounded, Secret Service agent Timothy
McCarthy was shot in the side, and District of Columbia
policeman Thomas Delahanty was shot in the neck.
After firing the shots, Hinckley (below) was overpowered
and pinned against a wall, and President Reagan, apparently
unaware that he’d been shot, was shoved into his limousine
by a Secret Service agent and rushed to the hospital.
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004)
The former convict will be 70 years old May 29th.
