WHEN JOHN HINCKLEY SHOT THE PRESIDENT and his press secretary outside the Washington Hilton in 1981, he also shot two law enforcement officers. The officers were part of the detail assigned to protect the president during the trip.
Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy was not scheduled to be on duty that day. At the last minute, the Secret Service received a request for an agent to provide protection to Reagan for an AFL-CIO luncheon on March 30. McCarthy and a colleague flipped a coin to see who would have to fill in on their day off; McCarthy lost.
When the shots were fired at Reagan, Agent McCarthy, without hesitating, leapt in front of the president and took a bullet in the abdomen. McCarthy was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery to remove the Devastator bullet lodged in his stomach. During his recovery from abdominal surgery, he received 50,000 get-well cards; including one from John Hinckley’s parents. He later received a special letter from President Reagan expressing his heart-felt thanks. Reagan wrote, “There will always be the special gratitude I feel for your extraordinary heroism on that one cold day in March. It is a gratitude words could never convey.”
McCarthy returned to the Secret Service after recovering from his bullet wound. He served up until October 1993 when he retired from the Service
MPD Officer Thomas Delahanty was working crowd control at the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981, when Hinckley emerged from the crowd to spray bullets at President Reagan and his entourage. One of Hinckley’s bullets struck Delahanty in the neck and ricocheted off his spinal cord. Although he survived the wound, he suffered permanent nerve damage to his left arm. Delahanty was cited for heroism for his valiant effort to protect the President, but was ultimately forced to retire at age 45 from the D.C. Police Department because of his disability. Delahanty lives in suburban Washington.