Testimony Opens in Buffalo Clinic Shooting Trial

(KNSI) — Testimony continues Tuesday in the Buffalo health clinic shooting trial.

Monday, Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes laid out in his opening statements how 68-year-old Gregory Ulrich walked into the Allina Crossroads Clinic on February 9th, 2021, shot five people and shot out some of the clinic’s windows, detonated three explosive devices before calling 911.

Ulrich was charged with second-degree murder for the death of Lindsay Overbay, a nurse at the clinic, and four counts of attempted murder for seriously injuring four other people. A grand jury indicted Ulrich on one count of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder last fall. Lutes told the jury, “The things the defendant did in advance demonstrate he planned this attack and that his attack that resulted in the death of Lindsay Overbay was premeditated.” Lutes needs to prove premeditation to get the first-degree murder and attempted murder conviction.

Ulrich’s attorney Virginia Murphrey refuted Lutes’s statements regarding premeditation, saying Ulrich did not walk into the clinic with intent to kill. She said he wanted to get attention for being accused as a “pill seeker” and couldn’t get painkillers. Murphrey did not dispute any other statements made by Lutes, saying what Ulrich did was a choice he made, but that does not make it premeditated.

Jurors watched surveillance video from the morning of the shooing showing Ulrich walking in and setting a briefcase down before shooting. It showed him coming back to the lobby, detonating three explosive devices, and calling 911. He allegedly told officers there was a fourth undetonated device and that reportedly hampered rescue efforts due to the unknowns surrounding the device. Police arrest Ulrich and look closely at the briefcase before dragging a victim out of the clinic.

The trial is expected to continue until May 31st.

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