Days after announcing on social media that he planned to open a music store in Williamsburg, Virginia, John Hinckley Jr. told News4 that his plan had changed.
Hinckley — who shot President Ronald Reagan in a 1981 assassination attempt outside the Washington Hilton — spent nearly 30 years in psychiatric care before his release. He has lived in the Williamsburg area since then.
Hinckley announced his business plans on social media Monday, writing on X, "I’ll be opening a music store in Williamsburg, Va. The address is 455 Merrimack [sic] Trail. Grand opening is in a week or two!"
The post garnered dozens of responses, mostly supportive of the business and Hinckley's attempt at a fresh start.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. >Sign up here.
Hinckley did not share any further details on the store, an exact opening date or a suite number within the shopping center at that location. When News4 reached out to him via email for comment and more information, he said he had dropped his plans.
"The Music Store is not happening," Hinckley told News4. "Too much negative publicity!"
The initial post with his announcement was still visible on X as of Thursday afternoon. Hinckley has not made any public follow-up posts about dropping the plans.
The address he listed, 455 Merrimac Trail, is about 2 miles from downtown Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William & Mary. As first reported by the Virginian-Pilot, the property falls under York County jurisdiction.
A spokesperson for the York County Commissioner of the Revenue told News4 that, without a suite number or official business name, finding any application for a business license would be difficult. A quick search with just the Merrimac Trail address did not turn up any paperwork in their system, the spokesperson said in a phone call.
Hinckley has been living near Williamsburg since 2016, when a federal judge ruled that he could exit psychiatric care in Washington, D.C. His release rested on the condition that he live full-time with his then-90-year-old mother. In 2022, a judge freed Hinckley from all remaining restrictions as long as he continued to do well.
Before his release, Hinckley spent nearly 30 years in intense psychiatric care after being found not guilty by reason of insanity for the assassination attempt. Four people — Reagan; a D.C. police officer; a Secret Service agent and Reagan's press secretary James Brady — were injured in the shooting. Brady, who was shot in the head, was left partially paralyzed and would use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
But jurors in the case decided that Hinckley needed treatment, not a lifetime in prison. Hinckley was suffering from acute psychosis at the time of the shooting and was obsessed with actress Jodie Foster and the need to impress her. The shooting, he said in a letter to the actress, was to get her attention.
Upon Hinckley's release in 2016, District Judge Paul L. Friedman said that psychiatric treatment has been effective, and that he has had "no signs of psychotic symptoms, delusional thinking, or any violent tendencies."
Hinckley's social media posts show that he spends most of his time performing music in the Williamsburg and Newport News areas, and painting pictures of houses and cats that he sells online.
