The Reagan Presidency Starts With a Bang (cont.)
The attack would take place as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel when Hinckley rapidly fired a Röhm RG-14 .22 LR blue steel revolver six times in 1.7 seconds. The first shot striking then press secretary James Brady in the head, leaving him partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. The following four shots would wound Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and District of Columbia policeman Thomas Delahanty.
The sixth and final shot would ricochet off the armored side of the limousine entering in the left underarm of the president, grazing his rib and lodging in his lung causing serious internal bleeding and narrowly missing his heart. Despite requiring emergency surgery to remove the bullet, the president would amazingly recover and be released on April 11 where he immediately went back to work.
