page_title: Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
section_title: Shooting
hierarchical_section_title: Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan / Assassination attempt / Shooting
caption_attribution_description: English: Just after the assassination attempt on US President Ronald Reagan, 30 March 1981, outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. James Brady and police officer Thomas Delahanty lie wounded on the ground.
context_page_description: On March 30, 1981, United States President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C. as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Hinckley believed the attack would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had become obsessed.
  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. He was close to death upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital but was stabilized in the emergency room, then underwent emergency exploratory surgery. He recovered and was released from the hospital on April 11. 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 Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded.
context_section_description: At 2:27 p.m., Reagan exited the hotel through "President's Walk" on Florida Avenue, where reporters waited. He left the T Street NW exit toward his waiting limousine as Hinckley waited within the crowd of admirers. The Secret Service had extensively screened those attending the president's speech, but greatly erred by allowing an unscreened group to stand within 15 ft (4.6 m) of him, behind a rope line. The agency uses multiple layers of protection; local police in the outer layer briefly check people, Secret Service agents in the middle layer check for weapons, and more agents form the inner layer immediately around the president. Hinckley penetrated the first two layers.
  As several hundred people applauded Reagan, the president unexpectedly passed right in front of Hinckley. Reporters standing behind a rope barricade 20 feet away asked questions. As Mike Putzel of the Associated Press shouted "Mr. President—", Hinckley, believing he would never get a better chance, fired a Röhm RG-14 .22 LR blue steel revolver six times in 1.7 seconds, missing the president directly with all six shots.
  The first round hit White House Press Secretary James Brady in the head above his left eye, passing through underneath his brain and shattering his brain cavity; the small explosive charge in the round exploded on impact. District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty recognised the sound as a gunshot and turned his head sharply to the left to identify the shooter. As he did so, he was struck in the back of his neck by the second shot, the bullet ricocheting off his spine. Delahanty fell on top of Brady, screaming "I am hit!". Hinckley now had a clear shot at the president, but Alfred Antenucci, a Cleveland, Ohio, labor official who stood nearby him, and saw him fire the first two shots, hit Hinckley in the head and began to wrestle the shooter down to the ground. Upon hearing the shots, Special Agent in Charge Jerry Parr almost instantly grabbed Reagan by the shoulders and dove with him toward the open rear door of the limousine. Agent Ray Shaddick trailed just behind Parr to assist in throwing both men into the car.
  As a result of Antenucci spoiling Hinckley's aim and Parr pushing the President, the third round overshot the president, instead hitting the window of a building across the street. Their actions likely saved Reagan from being hit in the head. As Parr pushed Reagan into the limousine, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy snapped his attention toward the sound of the gunfire, pivoted to his right, and put himself in the line of fire. McCarthy spread his arms and legs, taking a wide stance directly in front of Reagan and Parr to make himself a target. McCarthy was struck in the lower abdomen by the fourth round, the bullet traversing his right lung, diaphragm, and right lobe of the liver.  The fifth round hit the bullet-resistant glass of the window on the open rear door of the limousine as Reagan and Parr were passing behind it. The sixth and final bullet ricocheted off the armored side of the limousine, passed between the space of the open rear door and vehicle frame, and hit the president in the left underarm. The round grazed a rib and lodged in his lung, causing it to partially collapse before stopping less than an inch (25 mm) from his heart.
  Within moments of the first shots, Agent Dennis McCarthy (no relation to agent Timothy McCarthy) dove across the sidewalk and landed directly onto Hinckley as others pushed him to the ground. Another Cleveland-area labor official, Frank J. McNamara, joined Antenucci and started punching Hinckley in the head, striking him so hard he drew blood. Agent McCarthy later reported that he had to "strike two citizens" to force them to release Hinckley. Agent Robert Wanko (misidentified as "Steve Wanko" in a newspaper report) deployed an Uzi submachine gun concealed in a briefcase to cover the president's evacuation and to deter a potential group attack.
  The day after the shooting, Hinckley's gun was given to the ATF, which traced its origin. In just 16 minutes, agents found that the gun h
caption: Secret Service agents cover Press Secretary James Brady and police officer Thomas Delahanty during the assassination attempt of Reagan. Secret Service Agent Robert Wanko can be seen unfolding the stock of an Uzi in case of further attack.
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