A man disgruntled with the healthcare system opened fire inside a Minnesota clinic Tuesday morning — leaving one dead and four wounded, according to police and reports.
Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, entered the Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo, about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis, just before 11 a.m. local time and started shooting before he was taken into custody about an hour later, cops said during an afternoon news briefing.
Five patients were initially transported to area trauma centers in critical condition but later Tuesday, one of the victims, a nurse, succumbed to their injuries, KARE reported.
Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke, who appeared close to tears at the start of the news conference, said Ulrich had multiple run-ins with police dating back to 2003 and had a “history of conflict” centered around “healthcare and with the healthcare that he received.”
“The history that we have as a department with this individual makes it most likely that this incident was targeted at that facility or at someone at that facility,” Budke explained.
“None of the information that we have from our past contact with him would indicate that he was unhappy with or would direct his anger at anyone other than people within the facilities where he had been treated or where they’d attempted to give treatment.”
Initial emergency dispatch audio indicated a series of explosive devices were set off inside the facility and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said multiple “improvised explosive devices” were found but police were unable to confirm if the devices were set off or if they were bombs.
When cops first responded to the clinic, they found a “horrible” scene with multiple people bloodied and injured, Wright County Sheriff Sean Derringer said during the briefing.
Upon arrival, we also located several victims, it’s a horrible looking scene and our staff immediately began rendering aid to those victims,” Derringer said.
Officers then found a “suspicious package” in the corner of the lobby and immediately evacuated the building so the Minnesota bomb squad could investigate the possible device.
Ulrich was staying at a nearby Super 8 motel where “additional suspicious devices were found,” Derringer said, adding the motel was evacuated.
Kelly Spratt, the president for Allina Health’s Buffalo Hospital, said a total of five patients were transported from the clinic.
Four went to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, a level 1 trauma center outside of Minneapolis designed to handle the worst of the worst of injuries, and another went to the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, also a level 1 trauma center.
“This obviously is a very challenging day for us out here and across the Allina health family,” Spratt said during the briefing.
“Our hearts break again for the family of the patients that trust us with their care and for the greater community.”
North Memorial Health later confirmed one of the patients had been discharged while the other three were in “critical but stable condition.”
Aerial footage of the medical clinic hours after the attack showed a stagnant scene but at least three shattered plate-glass windows were visible on the infirmary’s exterior.
A worker from the Bugambilias Cocina Latina, a restaurant behind the clinic, told The Post by phone that three nurses rushed into the eatery to get help amid the shooting.
“They said there was a guy and a lot of people were hurt, they just basically run away for their lives,” the worker said.
“The nurses were asking for the phone, they just run away from the clinic and asked for the phone to call their families to tell them they’re ok.”
The worker said they were really “shocked” and were “not able to talk.”
“Some of the nurses don’t even have a coat, and it’s freaking cold outside,” the worker said.
Law enforcement agencies, both federal and local, immediately responded to the scene to assist with the investigation.
The Minnesota State Patrol wrote on Twitter to say they were transporting blood to the area.
“State Patrol pilots are flying six boxes of blood from the Red Cross to #Buffalo Hospital so it is ready for victims of the shooting incident at the #Allina Health Clinic,” the tweet stated.
With Post wires
