John Hinckley Jr. will be released from a psychiatric hospital on Sept. 10 to live full-time in Virginia 35 years after he attempted to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan, his attorneys confirmed to the Associated Press on Thursday.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled in July that Hinckley, 61, was no longer a threat to himself or others and could leave St. Elizabeths Hospital to live with his mother in Williamsburg, Va. as early as Aug. 5.
Hinckley will be bound to a 50-mile radius from Williamsburg and is barred from "knowingly" traveling to locations where there are current presidents or member of Congress. Williamsburg is located about 150 miles from Washington, D.C.
The judge said Hinckley may be allowed to live on his own after a year, removing the attempted assassin from court control for the first time since the 1981 shooting.
On March 30, 1981, Hinckley fired six shots at then-President Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in an assassination attempt intended to impress actress Jodie Foster, who he had developed an obsession with. Reagan was immediately rushed to the hospital and spent nearly two weeks recovering from gun wounds and severe blood loss. His press secretary James Brady was shot in the head and left paralyzed.
Nearly a year after the attack, a federal jury in Washington found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity. He has not displayed symptoms of a major depression or psychotic disorder in more than two decades.
Hinckley is required to find at least part-time employment or volunteer work and must participate in individual or group therapy. His leave will be evaluated in 12 to 18 months to see if any of the requirements should be altered.
Hinckley’s lawyer Barry Levine told the Associated Press that Hinckley’s release was a result of his commitment to "responsibly deal with disease."
"I think he will be a citizen about whom we can all be proud," he said.