Report: Police granted suspect gun permit

BUFFALO, MINN. >> A man charged with murder in a shooting at a Minnesota medical clinic bought the handgun he used in the attack with a permit from the local police department, even though he had been the subject of a restraining order for threatening the clinic in the past, according to a published report.

Gregory Ulrich, 67, is charged in an attack on an Allina Health clinic this week that left 37-year-old medical assistant Lindsay Overbay dead and four other people wounded. Ulrich had threatened in October 2018 to carry out a mass shooting at the clinic in Buffalo, a small city about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

The threat led Ulrich to be banned from clinic property, and the following month a restraining order was granted to prohibit him from contacting a doctor at the clinic. The order also required Ulrich not to possess guns and to turn in any guns or permits he had.

But the Minneapolis Star Tribune, citing a law enforcement source it didn’t name, reported Friday that the Buffalo Police Department had granted a permit for Ulrich to buy the handgun used in the attack. Even though Ulrich had been arrested for violating the restraining order, the newspaper reported that the permit was granted because the case was dismissed due to mental incompetency.

State law appears to clearly prohibit Ulrich from obtaining a permit to purchase a handgun. The statute bans anyone who has ever been found incompetent to stand trial from buying or having a gun.

Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke declined to answer questions from The Associated Press about the report, saying in a statement that the city cannot release information on gun permit applications.

Ulrich’s harassment case includes a notation from a court services agent in June 2019 that said Ulrich had applied for a “permit to purchase” and that approval was pending. The agent said he “highly recommended” against allowing Ulrich to have any weapons. A psychological evaluation was ordered, and in April 2020 the case was dismissed with a prosecutor saying Ulrich was found “mentally incompetent to proceed.”

Ulrich was charged Thursday, with his bail was set at $10 million or $5 million with conditions.