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John Hinckley Jr., the man who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, feels “true remorse” for his actions, he said in his first public comments since the attempt.
Hinckley was granted unconditional freedom by a judge earlier this month and has since sought to begin a career as a touring musician. The 67-year-old had received gradual release conditions over the last six years since being let out of a psychiatric institution in 2016. He is the only person to have been released after shooting a U.S. president.
“I have true remorse for what I did. I know [the victims] probably can’t forgive me now, but I just want them to know that I am sorry for what I did,” Hinckley told CBS News in an interview that aired Tuesday.
REAGAN SHOOTER JOHN HINCKLEY WINS UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE
Hinckley shot Reagan on March 30, 1981, at the Washington Hilton as the then-president was meeting with union members. Hinckley, who was 25 at the time, fired six shots from a .22 caliber revolver and hit Reagan in the chest.
The president was rushed to the hospital, and doctors said a bullet was lodged just an inch from his heart. White House press secretary James Brady was left paralyzed after the incident and died decades later from his injuries, and a Secret Service agent and a police officer were also injured.
Hinckley traveled to the hotel after reading in the news that Reagan would be at the hotel that day, saying in the Tuesday interview he was motivated by some delusion that he could impress actress Jodie Foster by killing the president. The would-be assassin experienced several delusions before that left him socially isolated and depressed, he said. He was later deemed mentally unfit to stand for trial.
“I was not just a cold, calculating criminal in 1981. I’m glad I did not succeed,” he said. “It’s such another lifetime ago. … It’s something I don’t want to remember. It was all just so traumatic.”
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Hinckley now lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, and says he is concerned about the future of the country, particularly rising crime rates, noting there are too many guns in the United States.
“I think the climate of the country right now is just not good at all,” he said.
