On March 30, 1981, @judywoodruffpbs was part of the press pool traveling with President Ronald Reagan. He had just delivered a speech at the Washington Hilton and was walking out of the hotel with his Secret Service detail.
“As he came out the door and began to wave to the group of supporters there, … suddenly I heard this ‘pop pop pop’ sound,” she recalled in an interview Sunday. “[It] sounded like firecrackers. But immediately people started yelling, ‘get down, get down!’ We got down, and we realized it was gunshots.”
The Secret Service pushed the president into his car and took off. Agents also tackled the shooter, John Hinckley Jr., but not before he wounded Reagan, White House Press Secretary James Brady, a D.C. police officer and a Secret Service agent.
More than 40 years after the attempted assassination of Reagan, a gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Judy looked back at her experiences reporting on both historic events.
Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.
Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Follow us:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews
X (formerly know as Twitter): http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour
Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour
“As he came out the door and began to wave to the group of supporters there, … suddenly I heard this ‘pop pop pop’ sound,” she recalled in an interview Sunday. “[It] sounded like firecrackers. But immediately people started yelling, ‘get down, get down!’ We got down, and we realized it was gunshots.”
The Secret Service pushed the president into his car and took off. Agents also tackled the shooter, John Hinckley Jr., but not before he wounded Reagan, White House Press Secretary James Brady, a D.C. police officer and a Secret Service agent.
More than 40 years after the attempted assassination of Reagan, a gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Judy looked back at her experiences reporting on both historic events.
Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.
Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Follow us:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews
X (formerly know as Twitter): http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour
Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour
- Category
- U.S. & Canada
- Tags
- Judy Woodruff, Reagan, assassination
Sign in or sign up to post comments.
Be the first to comment