Rawhide Down_ The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan - Del Quentin Wilber [126]
Goodbye, he thought: Government psychiatric report.
Blue flame spat from the gun: FBI interview of witness standing next to Hinckley.
The first person hit: Adelman laid out the order of shots during the trial.
Instinctively, he pivoted: Delahanty FBI report.
“I am hit!”: Delahanty FBI report.
The sight line between Hinckley and the president: Opening statement by Adelman. The third shot sailed high and hit a building across the street.
1.7 seconds: FBI reports.
Sitting at the Lincoln’s wheel: Interviews with Unrue and Parr; Unrue Secret Service report (redacted). The limousine was so heavily armored that Unrue would not have heard the gunfire if the door had been closed.
Agent Dennis McCarthy: Dennis McCarthy trial testimony; Dennis McCarthy Secret Service report; Dennis McCarthy, Protecting the President, pp. 65–84.
Herbert Granger was facing: Interview with Granger; Granger testimony. Granger and Delahanty were facing the wrong direction when Hinckley started shooting because they had momentarily turned from the crowd to orient themselves to the president. Later, Delahanty said he felt terrible about this, according to Hardesty, who spoke to the wounded officer in the hospital. In an internal report, the Secret Service defended the officers, saying “a study of tapes showed that the police officers were facing the crowd; however, in glancing around, providing 360 degrees of coverage, or checking on the exact position of the president gave the impression of watching the president.” Others, however, see a valuable lesson in the officers’ actions. In the conference room of her office in police headquarters, D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier displays a large photo of both officers looking at Reagan, not the crowd, in the seconds before the assassination attempt. It’s a reminder, she says, to always remain vigilant and focused on the crowd, not the president.
with such force that: Interview with Granger.
We have to keep him alive: Dennis McCarthy, Protecting the President, p. 76.
Another agent scrambled inside: Rick Tobin Secret Service report.
“Let’s move him to another car”: Dennis McCarthy, Protecting the President, p. 77.
thinking about Oswald: Interview with Danny Spriggs.
McCarthy exploded: Dennis McCarthy testimony during a pretrial evidence suppression hearing.
Agent Jim Varey watched: Interviews with Varey and Ahearn, as well as their FBI and Secret Service reports.
leaped from the front passenger seat: Interview with Gordon; Gordon Secret Service report.
“Let’s go!”: Robert Weakley Secret Service report (redacted). Weakley was a Secret Service protective support technician and the driver of the spare limousine.
Dan Ruge, who was standing: Dan Ruge FBI report; interview with Tom Ruge, son of Dr. Ruge.
“Doctor, get in that car!”: Interview with Tom Ruge.
as Mary Ann Gordon climbed: Ruge FBI report.
his first impulse was to jump: Interview with Shaddick; Shaddick Secret Service report.
“We’ve had shots fired”: Treasury report.
One climbed through the open right rear door: Interview with Russell Miller; Miller Secret Service report.
The other agent: Dalton McIntosh Secret Service report.
it was still 2:27 p.m.: Trainor, manning the Secret Service command post, checked a clock when he heard the reports of the shooting and noted it was 2:27 p.m., according to his Secret Service report. The Treasury report also notes the time of the shooting as 2:27. The FBI report put the shooting at about 2:25. I relied on the times in the Treasury report because it is the most exhaustive government account of the shooting and the actions of Secret Service agents.
people were frightened and upset: Various FBI reports and newspaper accounts.
Seeing an agent: Interview with Carolyn Parr.
“He’s with the Man”: News coverage of the shooting; Wanko is the agent with the Uzi.
7: “I Can’t Breathe”
As the president’s limousine: Interview with Parr; Parr Secret Service report and Parr FBI report (redacted).
Reagan sat slumped: Interview with Parr.
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