UPDATED: One dead, 4 injured in shooting at healthcare clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota
The shooter was most likely targeting the facility or someone at the facility, says Buffalo police chief.
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
One of the five people injured in a shooting inside Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota has died, according to local NBC affiliate Kare11. The victim has not yet been identified. One person has been discharged from the hospital and three others are in critical, but stable, condition, the report said.
Police did not say whether the victims were physicians, nurses, other employees or patients inside the facility.
The alleged shooter, Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, of Buffalo, was taken into custody.
Ulrich is well known to police as having a history of calls for service going back to 2003, according to Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke.
The incident is not believed to be a case of domestic terrorism and police believe he acted alone. Budke said it was most likely that Ulrich was targeting the facility or someone at the facility.
Ulrich had bad feelings towards the healthcare he received at Allina Health, Budke said, but there was nothing to indicate he would become involved in an active-shooter situation.
The 911 call came in at 10:54 a.m. CT Tuesday from the clinic.
Sheriff Sean Deringer of the Wright County Sheriff's Office said officials found a suspicious package in the lobby of the clinic and contacted the bomb squad. They also found suspicious devices at the Super 8 motel where Ulrich had most recently been staying.
There is nothing to indicate that any explosive devices were detonated, officials said.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Workplace violence in healthcare facilities is, unfortunately, not uncommon. Healthcare workers are more at risk of suffering an assault than employees of other professions.
Last month, 43-year-old pediatrician Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson was shot and killed in an act of murder-suicide at Children's Medical Group in Austin, Texas. Dr. Bharat Narumanchi, 43, shot Dodson before killing himself, according to the police report. Narumanchi did not work at the facility, but had been in a week earlier to ask to volunteer there. Other than possibly meeting that day, the gunman was a stranger to Dodson, police said. No motive was given for the attack.
THE LARGER TREND
The American Hospital Association released a 2020 report showing the rate of intentional injuries by others in 2017 to be 9.1 per 10,000 for healthcare and social assistance workers and 1.9 per 10,000 for all private industry.
Efforts include a bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Ct.) called the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act that would create federal prevention standards regarding workplace violence.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: susan.morse@himssmedia.com
