St. Louis Post-Dispatch du lieu suivant : St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

PATCH FINAL 2:50 P.M. New York Stocks Pages 9C ond IOC Vol. 103, No. 89 I op.rilhl IV81. Si.

Loai. Pou-lhlr TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1981 20' rvn 1 1 UJ UU nLnJVJLnJUVJ uvuvj On Today's Editorial Page Protecting Th President Editorial And Cartoon Symbolism On The Ballot Editorial ST. LO 1 POST Attends To Work From Bed By Thomas W. Ottenad Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau Mental Tests For Suspect By Joseph Pulitzer IV Po8t -Dispatch Washington Bureau AP President Ronald Reagan is sljown at the instant he was hit by a would-be1 assassin's bullet outside the Washington Hilton Hotel Monday. In front of him is his limousine into which Secret Service agents shoved him an instant later.

i WASHINGTON John W. Hinckley of Evergreen, described by his parents as "wandering, aimless and irresponsible," has been charged with the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Hinckley, 25, was being held at a Marine Corps facility at Quanticp, south of Washington. U.S. Magistrate Arthur L.

Burnett ordered Hinckley to undergo psychiatric testing today to help determine whether he is competent to understand the charges against him and to assist in his defense. Custody of Hinckley was formally transferred today from the FBI to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Bill Dempsey, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman, said today that Hinckley is being watched 24 hours a day by at least two U.S.

marshals. He is being held in the base brig in a 6-by-10 See SUSPECT, Page Inquiry On Guards Under Way Compiled From News Services WASHINGTON The Secret Service today began an investigation to determine whether agents did all they could to protect President Ronald Reagan when he and three other people were wounded in an assassination attempt Monday. John Warner a Secret Service spokesman, said preliminary indications were that the Secret Service men protecting the president had done everything possible and had made no mistakes. But he said it was standing procedure to review in an internal investigation the agency's actions in such incidents and the procedures used. "We're starting our own investigation today," Warner said.

Our investigation will review our protective procedures a standard thing when there is an untoward incident. "We've reviewed the videotapes, and our preliminary indications See INQUIRY, Page 9 Shock, Anger Shown Here By Gregory B. Freeman and Tommy Robertson Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Shock, dismay, frustration, concern and anger were among the emotional responses from people in the St. Louis area to the news of the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. But many persons acknowledged they have become resigned to violent acts directed at public figures.

The executive chef of the Famous-Barr Co. restaurants, Jan G. Verdonkschot, has his downtown office adjacent to the television sales area of the store and said he had studied the reaction of those who watched the news of the Reagan assassination attempt. Verdonkschot, 50, is a native of Holland who became a citizen in the mid-1950s and vividly remembered the reaction to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

"Television is making people accept this," he said. "I didn't see anyone get excited, like go to the elevator and tell someone, 'Hey, the president's been When Kennedy was shot the word went like wildfire." He said other assassinations over the See SHOCK, Page 6 WASHINGTON President Ronald Reagan attended to official business from his hospital bed today less than 17 hours after surviving an attempted assassination in which he was shot in the chest by a gunman who also wounded a White House aide and two other men. Physicians said this morning that the president had an excellent night and that he was in exceptionally good condition after being struck by a bullet that punctured his left lung but missed his heart by several inches. Presidential press secretary James S. Brady, who was shot in the head in the burst of gunfire in which the president afternoon, improved, expected was wounded Monday also was reported much Physicians said he is to live although they See REAGAN, Page 8 Excellent' Night For Reagan By William Freivogel Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON President Ronald Reagan, after spending "an excellent night," already can make presidential decisions and should be back riding horses in a couple of months, doctors supervising his treatment said today.

Dr. Dennis O'Leary, dean for clinical affairs at George Washington University School of Medicine, described Reagan as fully alert and joking with nurses, physicians and members of his staff. O'Leary said the 70-year-old president "performed through all this like a physiologically young man." "I think that he is quite capable of making decisions and interacting with people, although I wouldn't recommend his putting in an 18-hour day," O'Leary said. He also said that there was no medical reason to withhold information about government affairs from the See PROGNOSIS, Page 8 At The Hotel: Shots, Shouts By James Deakin Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON As Sara Fritz walked out the side entrance of the Washington Hilton Hotel, she heard two shots. There was a brief pause and then she heard four more.

They sounded, she said, like shots from a light firearm. "I heard shouts of 'get 'get 'get she told the Post-Dispatch. Then she saw several men shove President Ronald Reagan into his limousine. The long black car sped up Florida Avenue, turned left into Connecticut Avenue and disappeared. Ms.

Fritz is a White House reporter for U.S. News and World Report magazine. She had just witnessed an attempt to assassinate the president of the United States. It was about 1:25 p.m., St. Louis time, when Ms.

Fritz came out of the Florida Avenue entrance to the hotel. A few minutes before, the president had finished making a speech to a national legislative conference sponsored by the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department. Reagan was smiling and waving to a crowH of about 200 people as he walked See WITNESS. Page 9 Clear And Warm HALE TO Official forecast for St. Louis and vicinity: Clear tonight, low in the upper 40s.

Clear Wednesday, high around 70. Clear and warm Thursday, low in the 40s, high in the 70s. Chance of showers Friday and Saturday with lows in the upper 40s and SOs and highs in the 60s and 70s. 'THE CHIEF Other Weather Information on Paoe 3A 5 I i kit s-yyfs '-t-rjx 1 I I i 7- a. v.

i --i- rvii -f -mi 1 1 i jum AP policeman James S. The three other men besides President Reagan who were wounded lie on the sidewalk as Secret Service agents and police subdue the assailant in the background. In the foreground is Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy; behind him are Washington Thomas K. Delahanty and White House press secretary Brady, partly hidden by kneeling aides.

Related inside 52 I'agrg Suspect Reportedly Appeared At Nazi Rally Here In 1978 Stories NATION RESPONDS with sorrow, outrage. Page 9 A SOME CONFUSION on assumption of duties. Paee 11A 25TH AMENDMENT' defines succession. Page UA REAGAN FAMILY flies to president's side. Page 12A BUSH LEARNS of shooting from television report.

Page 12A SHOOTING HEIGHTENS debate on gun-control laws. Page 12A FOREIGN LEADERS voice shock, sympathy. Page SC COLUMNIST LOOKS at television's coverage. Page 6D Business 8-11C Challenges ID Children's Corner 5D Classified Advertising 11-I7C DollarsSense 1-12B Editorials 10A Everyday 1-8D News Analysis IIA Obituaries 1IC People 4A Reviews 4D St. Louis JA Sports MC Slate Capitol SA TV-Radio 61) HOMETOWN of Centralia, 111., prays for Brady.

Page 3A ST. LOUIS GlfoUP calls for gun controls. Page 3A ST. LOUIS POLITICAL leaders are stunned. Page 3A HINCKLEY grew up wealthy, but a loner.

Page 6A BRADY'S CHARM has small-town flavor. Page 7A BULLET passed through Brady's brain. Page A WOUNDED OFFICERS had just been assigned. Page 7A WHITE HOUSE officials performed smoothly. Page IA By Robert L.

Joiner Of the Post-Dispatch Staff "1981, St. Louis Post-Dispatch John W. Hinckley the man arrested Monday in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan, is. a former member of the National Socialist Party of America and was in St. Louis to take part in the group's scheduled rally and convention in March 1978, according to a party leader.

Michaer C. Allen, a Nazi leader in Chicago, said Hinckley joined the organization in 1978 and was kicked out in 1979 because of his violent attitude. "I didn't know until I heard his name on the news that this was the same guy," Allen said Monday night. "I said, 'Holy Then I saw his picture on television. That clinched it.

Then I was visited ty the FBI, which wanted to know if there was some kind of conspiracy in what happened." A St. Louis police spokesman, however, sid today that police had no record of Hinckley ever being involved with Nazis or ever being in St. Louis. An FBI spokesman, questioned today about Allen's allegations, said, "We don't- have any See HINCKLEY, Page I.