MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A man who shot five staff members at a Minnesota health clinic injured two of them in the reception area before returning to where patients are being treated and shot three others, including a medical assistant who died of her injuries, according to authorities and criminal charges filed Thursday.
Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, also reportedly fired three explosives during Tuesday’s attack at an Allina clinic in Buffalo, about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis, while other personnel barricaded themselves in locked rooms. He is charged with premeditated manslaughter, four attempts at first-degree murder, possession of an explosive device and carrying a gun without a license.
A judge on Thursday ordered Ulrich on bail of $ 10 million, or $ 5 million if he agreed to certain terms. Ulrich, who attended the video hearing from prison, spoke only to tell the judge how to pronounce his name and that he had no questions.
Gregory Ulrich went to the Allina clinic knowing he was going to shoot it. Gregory Ulrich went to that clinic knowing he would detonate bombs in the clinic. He did just that, cowardly injuring innocent people, fatally one of them, ”said Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes at a news conference.
According to the charges, staff asked Ulrich if they could help him when he entered the clinic, but he pulled out a gun and threatened them before shooting one staff member in the back and another in the stomach. He then entered the interior of the clinic and shot a third person twice in the thigh while trying to flee and a fourth person six times, including in the chest, stomach and back.
His fifth victim, who died of her injuries, was shot in the abdomen and the bullet was charged through her liver and spine. Allina identified her as Lindsay Overbay, a 37-year-old medical assistant who, according to family and friends, had two young children.
Wright County sheriff Sean Deringer said some staff escaped during the attack and others grabbed people and locked themselves in offices, so Ulrich “ may have run out of casualties. ” It was not clear how many people were in the building during the attack.
Three victims remained in hospital on Thursday, one in fair condition and two in good condition.
“If you could imagine the health workers in that clinic – doctors and nurses looking after their own colleagues after they were shot. … I can’t imagine the heroism the Allina staff showed that day, ”said Deringer.
Ulrich fired three homemade bombs – two in the clinic lobby and the other in an adjacent hallway, Deringer said. Authorities also recovered a fourth device that failed to explode. When the attack was over, Ulrich called the emergency number and said he would surrender if agents pulled out, according to the charges. Officers entered the clinic with a police car as a shield and found Ulrich lying in the hall with his arms outstretched.
It had two loaded 9 mm magazines, one with 13 rounds of ammunition and the other with seven. He also had 29 extra ammunition in a plastic bag. Authorities also searched a mobile home where Ulrich lived and found gunpowder similar to the material used in the bombs.
Ulrich’s cell phone had a rippling video he made that alluded to an incident at the clinic. Buffalo’s police chief, Pat Budke, said on Tuesday that Ulrich had a long history of conflict with medical clinics in the area and was unhappy with the care he received.
According to a previous police report, Ulrich threatened to commit a mass shooting at the clinic on October 13, 2018, with a doctor telling investigators that Ulrich had talked about “shooting, blowing things up and practicing different scenarios for revenge.” said he dreamed of exacting revenge on the people who ‘tortured’ him, referring to problems he had with back surgery and the medication he was prescribed.
Police took Ulrich for a mental health assessment, and Allina took legal action to deny him access to the company’s property. A restraining order forbade Ulrich from contacting the doctor or going to the clinic and the nearby Allina-run Buffalo Hospital. The order expired on December 13, 2020.
Deringer said on Thursday that he did not know if that doctor was at the clinic during Tuesday’s attack.
Ulrich violated the restraining order and tried to plead guilty in May 2019, but the court did not approve his plea and ordered an investigation. The court ordered a psychological evaluation in June, but lawsuits show that Ulrich was unwilling to leave his home, claiming he was in too much pain. The charge of violating the restraining order was dismissed on April 15, 2020, when the prosecutor said Ulrich was “mentally incompetent to move forward.”
Lutes said his office had not dealt with Ulrich since his most recent drunk driving charge, in 2006, and that the restraining order violation was a felony that would have been handled by the city attorney’s office. A phone call to the city attorney was directed to the city clerk, who did not immediately respond to a message.
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