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Man accused of opening fire inside a Minnesota medical clinic on Tuesday faces multiple charges, including murder, after the mass shooting – which police records show he had previously threatened to carry out against the clinic staff.
Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, is accused of shooting five people at the Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo, killing one and wounding four, as well as detonating two bombs. Officials said Ulrich indulged in the deadly rampage because he was “unhappy” with the treatment he received at the clinic.
He was charged on Thursday with one count of second degree murder, four counts of attempted premeditated murder, one count of detonating an explosive device and one count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to reports. court records.
The victim who was killed has been identified by relatives and local media as Lindsay Overbay, a medical assistant at the clinic. Overbay was a 37-year-old mother of two, according to a GoFundMe set up to help her family.
“She was the shining light in so many people’s lives, she could light up a room with her infectious laugh,” says GoFundMe. “Lindsay was in college to further her career and make sure she could provide a better life for her two beautiful children.”
Her husband, Donnie Overbay, told the Star Tribune that his wife had recently obtained a nursing assistant certificate and applied for a program to learn how to perform ultrasounds because she was very interested in internal organs.
Donnie Overbay said he told their children, who are 5 and 8, that their mother is gone, but hasn’t explained how she died and doesn’t think they understand yet that they won’t be seeing her again.
“When that happens in a few weeks, I have to tell them, ‘She’s in Heaven looking after you guys,’” he said.
Lindsay Overbay’s best friend for almost 20 years, Naiya Stubbe, said they haven’t been able to see each other for months due to the pandemic, but have kept in touch with daily Snapchats and, sometimes video chats lasting several hours.
“His laughter was the best sound,” Stubbe said. “It was hard not to immediately fall in love with her.”
This was not the shooter’s first encounter with law enforcement – or the medical clinic and its staff, police records obtained by the BuzzFeed News show.
In October 2018, a doctor at the clinic reportedly filed a restraining order against Ulrich after receiving several harassing phone calls in which Ulrich threatened to carry out a mass shooting at the hospital, allegedly claiming “he wanted this to happen. be big and sensational to make an impact. “
Ulrich denied any real police intent, saying he was only describing a dream he had of “getting revenge on the people who ‘tortured’ him.” He was angry with the back surgeries he had undergone at the clinic and what the police described as “post-surgery medication issues”.
A month later, Ulrich was arrested for returning to the clinic. But according to the Star Tribune, the charges were dropped after he was found to be mentally incompetent due to psychological issues and drug addiction.
Ulrich returned to the clinic several times after that, scaring the staff. A police report shows Ulrich also called the nurse’s line, “demanding that they provide him with narcotics.”
At a press conference Thursday, Wright County Sheriff Sean Deringer acknowledged Ulrich’s widely reported criminal history and defended law enforcement actions.
Deringer said that while police were aware of Ulrich’s many threats to the clinic, there was “ nothing new in the past few months or even a year that we would have been aware of where we would have taken immediate action to try to circumvent or prevent what happened on Tuesday morning. “
“If we are to pass the blame, I would like to place the blame on Mr. Ulrich, who is responsible for the devastation that has occurred in our Buffalo community,” Deringer said.
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