A young assailant dressed in red, white and blue shot Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama yesterday in the midst of a Laurel campaign rally, leaving him paralyzed in both legs.
Surrounded by a crowd of 1,000, the 52-year-old governor was shot at close range following his speech at the Laurel Shopping Center, about 14 miles northeast of Washington.
Wallace, campaigning in his third bid for the presidency, was hit in the chest and stomach by two bullets that caused four or five wounds.
At 2:15 a.m., a spokesman for Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring said the governor was "awake and alert" in the recovery room. "At this point, his progress is satisfactory," the spokesman said.
At 11 p.m., after five hours surgery, his wife told a press conference that, though he is seriously injured, "I feel very optimistic about him and you know his nature. He didn't earn the title of 'Fighting Little Judge' for nothing ... "
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