Wallace shooter living in Cumberland, official says Bremer was released from prison Friday after serving 35 years for assassination attempt
By Greg Garland | Sun reporter
12:47 PM EST, November 14, 2007
Arthur H. Bremer, who shot and paralyzed former Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1972, is living in Cumberland as he makes the transition to life on the outside after 35 years behind bars, an Allegany County official said today.
"He is in Cumberland; it's really not a big deal," said Allegany County Administrator Vance Ishler.
Bremer was released from a state prison in Hagerstown in the predawn hours Friday to avoid media attention. Prison system officials declined to say where he would be living but had previously indicated they would try to place him in a rural area of Maryland.
Ishler said prison officials contacted the county police department to let them know Bremer "had chosen to come to Cumberland and that they wanted us to be aware of it."
Ishler said he wasn't told if Bremer has a job or where exactly he is living. He said he did not know if Bremer was placed in a halfway house.
Bremer followed all the rules while in prison and county officials have been given no reason to believe he will create a problem in the community, Ishler said.
As a condition of his release, Bremer is required to wear an electronic monitor that will let authorities track his movements. He also must avoid elected officials and candidates running for political office.
Bremer, who is from Wisconsin, has no family in Maryland. His parents died while he was in prison and siblings who live in other states have been unwilling to take him in.
Bremer shot and wounded Wallace and three others, including a Secret Service agent, in 1972 at a Laurel shopping mall. The shooting forced Wallace to abandon his bid to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. He died in 1998.
Bremer has refused numerous interview requests during his years in prison. He did not respond to a written request by The Sun for an interview last August.
greg.garland@baltsun.com