News of Hinckley’s release leaves officers struggling

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

John Hinckley Jr. shot four people outside a Washington hotel March 30, 1981, but two of his victims understandably got most of the attention: President Ronald Reagan and his press secretary, James Brady.

Two other men – Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty – each took a bullet to protect the president. Thirty-five years later, they’ve lived to see Hinckley freed.

Last week, both were coming to terms with the news that Hinckley, now 61, soon will be released from a Washington psychiatric hospital to live full-time with his 90-year-old mother in Williamsburg, Va. A judge ordered Wednesday that Hinckley can leave the hospital as soon as Aug. 5, with restrictions.

The would-be assassin was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and he has gradually gained more freedom.

McCarthy, 67, the longtime police chief in Orland Park, Ill., wasn’t surprised to hear about his release. He accepts it, he understands it, but that doesn’t mean that he agrees with it.

“I have a lot of not very great Christian thoughts about him,” McCarthy told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday. “It was a terrible act. It’s unforgivable as far as I’m concerned.”

Delahanty, 80, has rarely spoken to reporters. He’s not crazy about the decision to release Hinckley but is resigned to it.