Jury finds Gregory Ulrich guilty of murder, 10 other charges in Minn. clinic attack
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Updated: 10:04 p.m.
A jury in Wright County Thursday took about six hours to convict Gregory Ulrich on all charges in a mass shooting last year at an Allina Health clinic in Buffalo.
Jurors found the 68-year-old guilty of 11 counts in all, including first-degree murder in the death of a staff member.
Ulrich shot five people Feb. 9, 2021 and set off three pipe bombs. Medical assistant Lindsay Overbay, 37, died of a gunshot wound. Four other clinic staffers survived but suffered serious injuries.
“It won’t bring Lindsay Overbay back, but it brings a sense of justice to what happened to her,” said Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes following the verdict. “It won’t take away the fear that these victims still experience. But it brings a level of justice in holding this defendant accountable.”
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KARE 11 reporter Kiya Edwards was in the courtroom earlier Thursday and says prosecutors named all five of the victims and said they were “innocent, defenseless victims who were front-line workers in the medical field.”
The government focused on Ulrich’s planning of the attack — key to the charge of first degree premeditated murder — and pointed to a video he recorded where he said “kill as many nurses as you can.”
Defense attorney Virginia Murphrey said her client did not go to the clinic to commit murder but to draw attention to the physical pain he was suffering. She said if Ulrich had intended to kill, he would have used more of the ammunition he brought.
Ulrich was the only witness for the defense, and KARE-11 reports that he chose to take the stand despite his lawyers’ advice not to testify. Ulrich said he suffered back pain following a work injury in 1977 and had back surgery in 2016. Ulrich said he opened fire because he wanted to get people to understand what it's like living without pain medication.
Just before 11 a.m. on the day of the attack, Buffalo Police and the Wright County Sheriff’s Office got a call about an active shooter at the Allina Medical Clinic. Shortly after officers arrived, Ulrich called 911 and said he wanted to surrender.
Authorities said Ulrich was addicted to opioid pain medication and attacked the clinic because he was angry that a physician had refused to continue his prescriptions. In a 2018 petition for a restraining order, Dr. Andrew Burgdorf said that Ulrich made escalating threats to clinic staff and “stated that killing one individual wouldn’t be enough.” Other clinics in the area kept a threat assessment file on Ulrich, according to court documents.
As the court clerk read the verdicts, Ulrich sat in a wheelchair and jotted notes on a piece of paper. In the gallery, two dozen Allina Clinic staff members — many wearing scrubs — sighed with relief and embraced as they left the courthouse.
No one wanted to comment on the verdict. But in a statement, Allina Health expressed gratitude for the jury’s decision, and said its employees showed “bravery and courage, while experiencing deep grief and trauma” throughout the three-week trial.
Lutes said the case was difficult emotionally, but from a legal perspective it was straightforward. “We had a lot of evidence. We had surveillance video from the lobby. We had the defendant’s 911 call. We had a very thorough police investigation.”
In Minnesota, a first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory prison sentence of life without parole. That typically makes a formal sentencing hearing unnecessary. But Judge Catherine McPherson scheduled one for June 17 so that survivors of the Allina Clinic shooting may give victim impact statements.
Correction: An earlier version misspelled defense attorney Virginia Murphrey’s name. The story is updated.