PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting his caseworker and grazing his psychiatrist at a suburban Philadelphia hospital complex before the doctor returned fire has been charged with murder.
Richard Plotts was arraigned late Saturday at his hospital bedside after emerging from sedation, said Emily Harris, spokeswoman for the Delaware County district attorney’s office.
Plotts, 49, was ranting about Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital’s gun ban Thursday before he shot 53-year-old caseworker Theresa Hunt during an appointment, authorities said. Psychiatrist Lee Silverman crouched behind a chair and pulled out his own gun, firing several shots at Plotts, authorities said.
Plotts had 39 unspent bullets on him when he was wrestled to the ground, police said. Two guns, including a revolver that police said he used to kill Hunt, were found at the scene.
“If the doctor did not have a firearm, (and) the doctor did not utilize the firearm, he’d be dead today, and I believe that other people in that facility would also be dead,” District Attorney Jack Whelan said Saturday.
Hunt’s brother, Dennis, told WPVI-TV that she was strong and good-hearted. The family called her “Mother Theresa,” he said.
Silverman, who was struck in the thumb and grazed in the temple but not seriously injured, hasn’t spoken publicly about the encounter.
Police seized two additional guns when they searched Plotts’ home in Clifton Heights, Whelan said.
Plotts is being guarded by police as he recuperates from his wounds at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
It was unclear whether Plotts, who lived alone, has a lawyer or relatives in the area. A call to his lawyer from an earlier case wasn’t returned.
Police in Upper Darby, where Plotts once lived, cited at least three mental health commitments, including one after he cut his wrists and one after he threatened suicide. His record also includes past assault, drug and gun charges, according to police and court records.
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Finally! A cut and dried case of someone being certified as having mental issues well before going on an attempted killing spree!
Now, what could we have done to prevent him from getting his weapons? I’d like to understand how we could possible draft legislation that could have prevented this from happening.
On the other hand, if handguns had been banned let’s say, in 1984, most of them have been off the streets by 2014.
It’s also important to note that anyone who murders a human being can be said to have been mentally deranged when they did the killing IMHO.
Well, gun nuts here’s a counterbalancing example if you focus only on the psychiatrist. If you focus on the patient, not so much. And this rare exception to the rule that usually when a gun is used it’s against oneself, a loved one, or a “friend” has a lot of ground to cover before it can make up for all the incidents like this one: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/pregnant-woman-dies-accidental-shooting
So it takes a sane gun owner to kill a insane gun nut. Oh now I get it!
By the way the story says, "Plotts, 49, was ranting about Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital’s gun ban Thursday before he shot 53-year-old caseworker Theresa Hunt during an appointment, authorities said. "
Why did this doctor have a gun on him if they had a gun ban?
Even sane gun owners are above the law?
Reading Comprehension much?
The “insane gun nut” was not killed. The innocent case worker was. The Doctor “retuned fire” but there is no mention of if he hit him or not.
He was NOT subdued by the gunfire, he was “wrestled to the ground” and subdued.