Gregory Ulrich sentenced to life in prison for Buffalo Crossroads Clinic shooting

BUFFALO, Minn. (FOX 9) - Gregory Ulrich, the man who opened fire at the Allina Crossroads Clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota, last year, was sentenced on Friday after a jury found him guilty on all 11 charges, including first-degree murder for the death of Lindsay Overbay.

A Wright County judge on Friday sentenced Ulrich to life in prison for premeditated first-degree murder. She also ordered consecutive sentences for the other charges, including 216 months (18 years) for each of the four attempted first-degree murder charges. She did not impose sentences on the lesser charges for which Ulrich was convicted. 

In total, the judge tacked on an additional 72 years for all the count. After the sentencing, the packed courtroom erupted into applause.  

Prosecutors during the sentencing hearing called Ulrich a "coward" and asked the judge for life in prison without the possibility of parole for Overbay's death. The victims did not provide any impact statements.

During the trial, Ulrich admitted he bought the gun, assembled the pipe bombs and carried out the attack. 

However, he maintained that he was driven by excruciating pain that he said the medical team at Allina failed to properly manage and that he never intended to actually kill anyone. Ulrich reiterated this during his sentencing hearing on Friday, saying the attack on the clinic could have been avoided had doctors and nurses listened to him and helped him properly manage his pain. He said the pain made him "lose his mind," and said he is not a "coward."

Overbay was killed in the attack and four others were hurt in the attack on Feb. 9, 2021. None of the victims had any direct connection to Ulrich.

During closing arguments, prosecutors argued Ulrich absolutely knew what he was doing that day. 

As evidence, they played a pair of cellphone videos Ulrich recorded of himself a couple of months before the attack where he looked into the camera and said older folks should grab their pistols and go down to their clinics to kill as many nurses as possible if cut off from their Oxycodone.

Statement from Allina Health

We are grateful the jurors delivered justice for our Allina Health Buffalo Crossroads team members, who were senselessly attacked on February 9, 2021. The tragedy took Lindsay Overbay from her family, resulted in the injury of four of our team members and deeply affected our Buffalo Crossroads team.

Our resilient team members have shown bravery and courage, while experiencing deep grief and trauma as they navigated Gregory Ulrich’s criminal trial over the last few weeks.

We are grateful for the steadfast commitment shown by the Wright County Prosecutors and our law enforcement partners.

We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support felt from our Buffalo community, our health care colleagues and communities throughout the state. Each heartfelt social media post, prayer and gesture of support has been deeply appreciated by our team.

On behalf of the Allina Health family, our sincere gratitude for standing with us in the aftermath of the senseless attack on our team and our clinic, as we reopened our clinic doors to continue caring for the community we love and for your support today.