page_title: Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan
section_title: Assassination attempt
hierarchical_section_title: Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan / Assassination attempt
caption_attribution_description: English: The Hilton Washington's entrance on T Street, NW where the assasination attempt of President Ronald Reagan took place.
context_page_description: The Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan happened on Monday, March 30, 1981, 69 days after becoming President. Ronald Reagan was leaving after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.. As Reagan left to enter his car, John Hinckley, Jr. fired his gun.
context_section_description: At 2:27 pm Eastern Time, Reagan exited the hotel through "President's Walk" and its K Street NW exit toward his waiting limousine. Hinckley waited within the crowd of civilians. While the Secret Service blocked those attending the president's speech, in a "colossal mistake" the agency allowed an unsearched group to stand within feet of him, behind a rope line.
  Reagan unexpectedly passed right in front of Hinckley. Believing he would never get a better chance, Hinckley fired a Röhm RG-14 .22 Long Rifle blue steel revolver six times in 1.7 seconds.
  Five out of the six shots missed the president. The first bullet hit White House Press Secretary James Brady in the head. The second bullet hit District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty in the back of his neck as he turned to protect Reagan. Hinckley now had a clear shot at the president, but the third bullet overshot him and hit the window of a building across the street.
  As Special Agent In Charge Jerry Parr quickly pushed Reagan into the limousine, the fourth bullet hit Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy in the abdomen as he spread his body over Reagan to protect him. The fifth bullet hit the bullet-resistant glass of the window on the open side door of the limousine. The sixth and final bullet ricocheted off the armored side of the limousine and hit the president in his left underarm, grazing a rib and lodging in his lung, stopping nearly 1 inch (25mm) from his heart. Parr's prompt reaction saved Reagan from being hit in the head. Reagan suffered from a punctured lung and heavy internal bleeding. He received medical attention quickly.
caption: The "President's Walk" area where Reagan was shot
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