John Hinckley, Jr.

John Warnock Hinckley, Jr. is the attempted assassin of then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan and, more recently, the indirect assassin of then-White House Press Secretary James Brady. He committed the attack in order to impress teenage actor Jodie Foster.

Background
Hinckley was born on May 29, 1955 to John Warnock Hinckley Sr. and JoAnn Moore. Hinckley, Sr. was the chairman of the Vanderbilt Energy Corporation and JoAnn was a homemaker. They lived in Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado. Hinckley's older brother Scott became a vice president of the family business after graduating from Vanderbilt University. Hinckley was expected to graduate as well, but he dropped out of college in April 1976. He then attempted to become a songwriter, but failed early. Apparently feeling unloved, Hinckley began believing in an imaginary girlfriend. The movie Taxi Driver came out that year, starring Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle and Jodie Foster as Iris. In the film, Bickle is a violent, alienated cab driver who develops a fascination with a campaign volunteer who works for a senator who is seeking the presidential nomination. As his fascination turned to obsession, Bickle meets Iris, a 12-year-old prostitute. As the their relationship deepened, the movie came to its shattering conclusion: Bickle sent money to Iris and a letter telling her that he'd soon be dead. He made a failed attempt to assassinate the candidate. Bickle kills Iris's pimp and was hailed as a hero by the media. Hinckley identified with Bickle and started to dress like Bickle, favoring army surplus fatigue jackets and combat boots. Just a Bickle did, he kept a journal and drank peach brandy. Hinckley eventually dropped in and out of college, living in Colorado, Texas, and California.

In August 1979, inspired by Bickle's gun collection, Hinckley bought a gun and took up target shooting. He purchased more guns regularly and bought ammunition called Devastator rounds, which explode on impact. After hearing from a People magazine article in May 1980 that Jodie Foster had enrolled into Yale University, Hinckley went to New Haven and began to write letters to her, receiving polite responses from either her or a publicist. Lost in the throes of erotomania, Hinckley was convinced that he needed to "rescue" Foster, as Bickle had rescued Iris in Taxi Driver. Hinckley made contact with Foster at least a couple of times, but she told him she didn't interact with people she didn't know. He also called her and sent her letters and poems. Thinking he was in love with Foster, and vice versa, Hinckley felt that he had to demonstrate his love for her with an act that would caught her attention. He decided to assassinate the President of the United States of America. During the 1980 election, Hinckley went to a couple of campaign appearances hosted by then-President Jimmy Carter. Hinckley left his gun collection once in his hotel room. He was also stopped by airport security for having guns in his luggage. Hinckley was given a fine, with his guns confiscated, and was released. Hinckley then bought more guns and weapons to replace the ones that were confiscated. On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman assassinated celebrity John Lennon. Afterwards, Hinckley took a train to New York to join in the vigil for Lennon in Central Park. He described himself as "in deep mourning". Soon, he purchased a Charter Arms revolver, like Chapman had used.

Assassination Attempt, Trial, and Incarceration
On March 30, 1981, Hinckley wrote a letter to Foster, which he never mailed, explaining how he planned to win her love for him. Then he took a cab to the Washington Hilton, where Reagan was addressing a labor conference. At 2:25 p.m., Reagan was leaving the hotel, waving at bystanders. Hinckley pulled out a revolver and fired it six times in 1.7 seconds. The assassination attempt went as followed: White House Press Secretary James Brady was hit in the head by the first shot. The second shot hit police officer Thomas Delahanty in the back of his neck as he turned to protect Reagan. Then Hinckley had a clear shot at Reagan but the third overshot him and hit the window of a building across the street. Special Agent-In-Charge Jerry Parr immediately pushed Reagan into the limousine. Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy spread his body over Reagan to make himself a target, and was shot in the abdomen. 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 Reagan in his left underarm, grazing a rib and lodging itself in his lung, stopping nearly an inch from his heart. Had Parr hesitated for a moment, the President would likely have been hit in the head.

Secret Service immediately dog-piled on Hinckley before he could do anything else. In order to prevent what happened with Lee Harvey Oswald, being killed by a civilian, agent Dennis McCarthy (no relation to Timothy McCarthy), kept civilians away, including striking two of them. He was disarmed and arrested. President Reagan was taken to the George Washington University Hospital. He made a full recovery. Reagan made jokes about the whole situation, saying the famous line, "Honey, I forgot to duck." He even told his surgical team, "Please tell me you're all Republicans". At his trial, Hinckley was charged with 33 offenses. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he remains today. Occasional parental visits are allowed. His claims that he has recovered from his obsession with Jodie Foster are written off because of the photographs of Foster in his rooms as well as his attempts to have nude photos of her mail ordered to him. In the aftermath of his trial, the federal government and several states began revising their laws regarding trying those deemed insane, with four states abolishing it as a defense altogether.

Modus Operandi
Hinckley shot his victims with a Röhm RG-14 .22 cal. blue-steel revolver.

Known Victims

 * Unspecified dates:
 * Jodie Foster
 * Jimmy Carter
 * March 30, 1981: One killed and three injured in the assassination attempt:
 * James Brady
 * Officer Thomas Delahanty
 * Timothy McCarthy
 * Ronald Reagan

On Criminal Minds
Hinckley was mentioned in Somebody's Watching when the BAU compared him to the case at hand.