Up to 5 people wounded in shooting and explosion at urgent care clinic in Buffalo
PICTURED: Suspect, 67, who ‘shot 5 people at Minnesota health clinic’ as police reveal they found suspicious devices at the medical center and a Super 8 motel and have been ‘familiar with gunman since 2003’
- Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, from Buffalo, was arrested and is currently being held in the Wright County Jail
- Ulrich allegedly entered the Allina Health Clinic on Crossroads Campus Drive in Wright County, Buffalo, late Tuesday morning and opened fire
- At least five people were wounded. The conditions of the victims is still not known and authorities have not confirmed if they are staff or patients
- Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke said earlier reports that four homemade bombs had been detonated at the center are now known to be incorrect
- He said ‘suspicious packages’ had been located at both the clinic and the nearby Super 8 motel – roughly one mile from the center – where Ulrich was staying
- Both sites were evacuated and bomb squads remain on the scene
- Police said Ulrich has been known to law enforcement for some time
Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, was arrested over the mass shooting in Minnesota Tuesday
The gunman who allegedly shot five people at a Minnesota health clinic has now been identified, as the police revealed they found suspicious devices at both the medical center and at a nearby Super 8 motel and have been ‘familiar’ with the suspect since 2003.
Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, from Buffalo, was arrested and is currently being held in the Wright County Jail over the mass shooting that took place at the Allina Health Clinic on Crossroads Campus Drive in Wright County, Buffalo, late Tuesday morning.
At least five people were wounded after the gunman entered the facility not long before 11.00 am and opened fire.
The conditions of the victims is still not known and authorities have not confirmed if they are staff or patients at the facility.
Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke confirmed the suspect’s identity at a press conference Tuesday afternoon where he said earlier reports that four homemade bombs had been detonated at the center are now known to be incorrect.
He said that ‘suspicious packages’ had been located at both the clinic and the nearby Super 8 motel – roughly one mile from the center – where Ulrich was known to have been staying.
Both sites were evacuated and bomb squads remain on the scene.
Police said Ulrich has been known to law enforcement for some time.
Police said Ulrich had been known to law enforcement for some time and they believe he had a specific vendetta against the Allina clinic and its staff
Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke confirmed the suspect’s identity at a press conference Tuesday afternoon where said earlier reports that four homemade bombs had been detonated at the center are now known to be incorrect
Police were first called to reports of shots being fired at the clinic at 10:54 am.
Officers responded to the scene and found several people injured inside the clinic, who they immediately administered aid to.
They located the suspect and he was taken into custody, police said.
During a secondary search of the building, officers found what they described as a ‘suspicious package’ in the lobby.
The clinic was evacuated and the Minneapolis bomb squad was called to the scene. They were still on the scene at 3:00 pm.
Authorities then received information that Ulrich was staying at the Super 8.
Officers went to the motel where they found ‘additional suspicious devices’ and also evacuated the building.
A search warrant was obtained and officers continue to be investigating the scene.
Authorities said there is no indication that Ulrich was connected to any type of domestic terrorism.
Instead, Budke said believe they believe the 67-year-old ‘targeted the facility or someone at the facility.’
One of the broken windows following the mass shooting and explosion at the clinic
Law enforcement personnel and first responders gather on the scene outside the clinic
At least 5 people wounded after a gunman opened fire and detonated four homemade bombs at the urgent care clinic in Buffalo
‘Because of his history… we believe it was only directed at that facility and the people in it.’
Ulrich has lived in the community for some time and has been in contact with healthcare professionals at the clinic for ‘quite some time’,’ authorities said.
‘None of the information we have at this time suggests he would focus on any other individual or clinic.’
Police said they believe he acted alone and they are not looking for any further suspects involved in the shooting.
Both the Buffalo Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department were ‘very familiar’ with the suspect and had received ‘several calls for service [regarding Ulrich] dating back to 2003,’ authorities said.
‘He is no stranger to law enforcement,’ authorities said.
Five victims were rushed to hospital following the shooting.
Four patients are currently at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale and the fifth is at Hennepin County Medical Center.
Two of the victims had initially been taken to the Allina-operated Buffalo Hospital before being transferred.
A map of the Allina Health Clinic which is just one mile from the Super 8 Motel where there were also reports of a possible explosive device
No update was given about their conditions during the press conference.
The North Memorial hospital is known for dealing with the most severe of critical incident injuries.
Budke choked back tears as he said: ‘This is a day that no community would want to go through – especially those staff that were there and families of those that were injured.’
There had been conflicting reports about whether any bombs had detonated at the scene.
Initial reports based on police dispatch audio said that four homemade bombs had been detonated inside the family medicine and urgent care clinic at the facility just 30 minutes after the shooting.
‘The male is saying that he had four homemade explosive devices. They all went off,’ a voice says over the audio, adding that there could be another device inside the suspect’s briefcase that had not gone off yet.
The man was ‘sprawled out on his stomach’ and had said the gun and his briefcase was by the front desk of the clinic, the audio reported.
‘Fifteen shots were fired. No further information at the moment. Just that somebody came in and started shooting,’ the audio reported.
At least five were said to be critically injured with voices later saying there was ‘one down’ and that there were ‘several victims with one [victim’s condition being] critical if not fatal.’
There was also said to be a ‘high suspicion’ of a bomb threat at the nearby Super 8 hotel but it was not clear at that time if the two locations were connected.
Local schools went into lockdown and a flight ban was issued over the area Tuesday morning.
Three female victims were said to be by the front entrance with gunshot wounds – with at least one critical and one shot in the abdomen.
Wright County spokesman John Holler told CNN no bombs were found on the scene but Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said at a press conference the incident involved some IEDs.
Just 30 minutes after the shooting, four homemade bombs then reportedly detonated in the family medicine and urgent care clinic
Aerial footage from the scene shows at least two windows in the facility blown out by the blast while an empty wheelchair is seen outside the front entrance
Local schools have been placed on lockdown and a flight ban has been issued over the area
Buffalo Police, Wright County sheriff’s deputies and SWAT teams responded to the scene about 10:55 a.m.
‘At the time what we know is there was an active shooter situation and some improvised explosive devices,’ Walz said.
‘It’s not confirmed yet the causalities or those injured in this.’
Walz confirmed the suspect was in custody and that the incident appeared to be the work of a single individual.
He added that it was too early to determine the motive for the attack.
Kelly Prestidge, an office manager for the Buffalo Police Department, told The Associated Press there were multiple victims but did not say how many were shot or if anyone was killed.
Police Chief Pat Budke told TV station KSTP the shooting happened inside the health center.
Budke said the situation was contained shortly before noon and there was no further threat to the public’s safety.
The identities of both the suspect and the victims are not known at this time.
Aerial footage from the scene taken by Fox9 shows at least two windows in the facility blown out by the blast while an abandoned wheelchair is seen outside the front entrance.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said at a press conference the suspect was in custody and that the incident appeared to be the work of a single individual
A local woman told Fox 9 she was dropping her mom off for an appointment when she saw two nurses come running out the front of the building.
‘I pulled in and was getting ready to drop her off at the door and two of the nurses came running out and they got in and said they heard about 11 shots within a minute,’ she said.
She said the nurses told her they didn’t see a shooter.
They then saw the front windows ‘be shot out’ about two minutes later so they drove away from the scene, she said.
Another local resident Jim Rich told Fox 9 the incident was ‘very out of the norm for the area’ where everyone knows each other.
A law enforcement source told the outlet the incident was a ‘disaster.’
Multiple law enforcement teams were on the scene with the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm and Hennepin County all sending in teams to assist Buffalo Police.
The State Patrol reported that it was flying six boxes of blood from the Red Cross to Buffalo Hospital for the victims.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the situation an ‘unspeakable depravity’ and said the city was also sending in emergency responders to assist Buffalo.
‘There is an unspeakable depravity in doing harm to those who work to heal us. Those who have stepped up and risked their own health for ours,’ he tweeted.
A suspected gunman opened fire at the Allina Health Clinic on Crossroads Campus Drive in Wright County late Tuesday morning, according to the Star Tribune
‘Our first responders are on their way to the scene to help. Today Minneapolis stands with our neighbors in Buffalo.’
Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose public schools sent a memo to students’ parents saying local schools had gone into lockdown with everyone evacuated from the two closest schools to the facility.
‘Today there was an emergency situation at Allina Crossroads Clinic that prompted schools in Buffalo to be in lock-down and, at the direction of the Buffalo Police Department, we evacuated students from the two closest schools [Tatanka Elementary STEM School and PRIDE Transitions] to Buffalo High School,’ they said.
‘All other schools will dismiss today at their regularly scheduled time. All KidKare sites will be open until 6:30 p.m. Tatanka KidKare students will remain at Buffalo High School until picked up by parents.
‘The district acted quickly with the help of the Buffalo Police Department and Wright County Sheriff’s Department to make sure that our students are safe and secure. Our thoughts go out to those directly involved with the situation.’
Allina Health owns or operates 12 hospitals and more than 90 clinics across Minnesota.
At the Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo, 11 practitioners are listed on the website.
Buffalo is a city of about 15,000 people based around 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
