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.
Law enforcement personnel walk toward the Allina Health Clinic Tuesday after the incident
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
A shooter opened fire at the Allina Health Clinic on Crossroads Campus Drive in Wright County late Tuesday morning.
Just 30 minutes after the shooting, four homemade bombs then reportedly detonated inside the family medicine and urgent care clinic at the facility.
There was also said to be a ‘high suspicion’ of a bomb threat at the nearby Super 8 hotel, the Star Tribune reported. No further details have been given about this threat.
It is not yet clear if the incidents at the two locations are connected. A male suspect has been taken into custody.
Local schools have been placed on lockdown and a flight ban has been issued over the area while the investigation continues.
Buffalo Police, Wright County sheriff’s deputies and SWAT teams responded to the scene about 10:55 a.m. Tuesday to reports of an active shooter at the health center, according to police dispatch audio.
While the shooting was being investigated, four improvised explosive devices reportedly detonated at the clinic.
‘Fifteen shots were fired. No further information at the moment. Just that somebody came in and started shooting,’ a voice over the police dispatch audio is heard saying.
The audio initially reported at least five were 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.’
The male suspect reportedly admitted to having four bombs that had all detonated and authorities were investigating if there was another device in the man’s briefcase.
‘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.
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
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.
At least three people were airlifted to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale and another two to the Allina-operated Buffalo Hospital.
The North Memorial hospital is known for dealing with critical incident injuries.
It is not clear if the victims all suffered gunshot wounds or if some were injured in the blast but emergency dispatch audio revealed an explosion had forced emergency responders to retreat further from the parking lot.
There was conflicting reports later about whether any devices detonated.
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.