MEDIA, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a psychiatric patient who killed his caseworker at a suburban Philadelphia hospital complex – and grazed his psychiatrist before the doctor pulled out his own weapon and fired back – has a lengthy history of gun arrests, violence and mental health problems.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan says 49-year-old Richard Plotts had a problem with the hospital’s ban on guns, although it’s not clear if that was the direct motive for Thursday’s shooting.
Police say he had 39 bullets on him after the shooting.
Psychiatrist Lee Silverman told police he fired back at Plotts with his own weapon after Plotts opened fire at an office adjacent to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby.
Whelan says Silverman routinely carried a gun and had no specific fear of the suspect.