WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) — After a 1981 attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley Jr. was released on Saturday from St. Elizabeths Hospital, the psychiatric facility that has been his home for nearly 35 years.
A federal judge ordered Hinckley’s release in July, saying the 61-year-old no longer posed a threat to himself or others.
Hinckley will reside with his mother, 90, in Williamsburg, Va., and will only be allowed to travel within a 50-mile radius of her home, as part of the conditions of his release. He is also required to carry a GPS-enabled phone, avoid government buildings and continue regular psychiatric treatment.
Hinckley has been spending up to 17 days per month with his mother as part of a gradual release over the past decade.
A hospital official told The Washington Post that all patients scheduled to be released Saturday had been. An employee of the facility told The Telegraph, “John is gone.”
On March 30, 1981, Hinckley shot Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Washington police Officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy outside of the Washington Hilton hotel to impress actress Jodie Foster.
All four survived, though Brady was confined to a wheelchair until his death in 2014, which was later declared a homicide.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity following an eight-week trial in 1982.
He is ordered to have no contact with Foster, and the Reagan and Brady families.
