John Hinckley, who tried to kill Ronald Reagan in 1981, will be released from the mental hospital where he has been confined. He fired six shots, wounding the president and four others, including James Brady, who was seriously injured. His death two years ago from long-term complications was ruled a homicide.
From Judge grants John Hinckley Jr. his freedom decades after Reagan assassination attempt | Fox News:
The man who tried to kill President Ronald Reagan is set to go free, after a judge decided Wednesday to allow would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. to live with his mother in Virginia full-time.
Hinckley is set to begin his “convalescent leave” on Aug. 5, according to U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman’s order.
“I’m very glad this happened after Mrs. Reagan passed on,” said Reagan’s 1984 campaign manager Ed Rollins, referencing the death of Nancy Reagan in March. “It would have been a very disturbing thing for her.”
Friedman wrote that “all of the experts and treatment providers” who testified during the hearing agreed that Hinckley’s issues — major depression and psychotic disorder — were “in full and sustained remission and have been for more than twenty years.”. . .
Hinckley, 61, attempted to kill Reagan outside of the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981. He fired six shots, hitting four people, including Reagan, who was wounded when a bullet bounced off his presidential limo. Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the right side of his head, sustaining serious injuries. When he died in August 2014, Brady’s death was ruled a homicide.
