“John Hinckley Jr. shot four people outside a Washington hotel on March 30, 1981, but two of his victims understandably got most of the attention: President Ronald Reagan and his press secretary, James Brady. Two other men – Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty – each took a bullet to protect the president. Thirty-five years later, they've lived to see Hinckley freed. On Thursday, both were still coming to terms with the news that Hinckley, now 61, will soon be released from a Washington psychiatric hospital to live full-time with his 90-year-old mother in Williamsburg, Virginia. A judge ordered Wednesday that Hinckley can leave the hospital as soon as Aug. 5, with numerous restrictions. The would-be assassin was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and he has gradually gained more freedom. For the past two-plus years, he has spent more than half his time at his mother's house in a gated community overlooking a golf course. McCarthy, 67, the longtime police chief in Orland Park, Illinois – about 25 miles southwest of Chicago – has long followed developments in Hinckley's case through news accounts, so he wasn't surprised to hear about his release. He accepts it, he understands it, but that doesn't mean that he agrees with it. “I have a lot of not very great Christian thoughts about him”, McCarthy told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday. “I don't have to agree with it, but I expected it. There are very few cases that people, after a period of time, are not viewed as no longer being a danger to themselves or others”, McCarthy said. “I hope they're right about it. It's a big decision. I give the judge credit. That's what he gets paid for”. – Ben Nuckols and Joe Mandak via The Associated Press



In this March 30, 1981 file photo, a U.S. secret service agent with an automatic weapon watches over James Brady, the president's secretary, after being wounded in an attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan in Washington. A Washington, D.C. policeman, Thomas Delahanty, lies to the left after also being shot. John Hinckley Jr. shot four people outside a Washington hotel on March 30, 1981, but two of his victims understandably got most of the attention: President Ronald Reagan and his press secretary, James Brady. Former Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and former District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty, both of whom took bullets to protect the president. (Photo by Ron Edmonds/AP Photo)





In this March 30, 1981 file photo, officers with guns drawn rush towards assassin John Hinckley after he fired his weapon hitting President Ronald Reagan, Officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy outside a Washington hotel. (Photo by Ron Edmonds/AP Photo)





In this March 30, 1981 black-and-white three picture combo file photo, President Reagan waves, then looks up before being shoved into Presidential limousine by Secret Service agents after being shot outside a hotel in Washington. (Photo by Ron Edmonds/AP Photo)





James Brady and a police officer are seen lying on the ground after being shot while the suspect John Hinckley Jr. is apprehended,at right, moments after the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, Washington, DC, March 30, 1981. (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Getty Images)





Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy, foreground, Washington policeman, Thomas K. Delehanty, center, and presidential Press Secretary, James Brady, background, lie wounded on a street outside a Washington hotel after shots were fired at U.S. President Reagan on March 30, 1981. McCarthy threw himself into the line of fire and Delehanty, on crowd control duty, was standing close to the gunman, John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., who pushed a pistol through a cluster of bystanders and fired six shots. Police and secret service subdue the gunman in the background. (Photo by Ron Edmonds/AP Photo)





Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy, foreground, Washington policeman, Thomas K. Delehanty, center, and presidential press secretary James Brady, background, lie wounded on a street outside a Washington hotel after shots were fired at U.S. President Reagan on March 30, 1981. (Photo by Ron Edmonds/AP Photo)





Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy, foreground, Washington policeman, Thomas K. Delehanty, center, and presidential Press Secretary, James Brady, background, lie wounded on a street outside a Washington hotel after shots were fired at U.S. President Reagan on March 30, 1981. (Photo by Ron Edmonds/AP Photo)