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 Richard Plotts, 49, was arraigned late on Saturday in his hospital
room and charged with first and third degree murder, attempted
murder, assault and other charges in connection with the incident,
Delaware County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Emily Harris
said.
Plotts walked into the office of psychiatrist Lee Silverman, inside
the Sister Marie Lenahan Wellness Center in Darby, for a scheduled
appointment on Thursday and pulled a .32-caliber revolver from his
waistband.
After arguing about signs banning guns at the facility, he fired two
shots, killing social worker Theresa Hunt at point-blank range and
grazing Silverman's head, authorities said.
Silverman, himself armed with a .32-caliber semi-automatic weapon,
fired six or seven shots in return, hitting Plotts in the abdomen
and critically wounding him, authorities said.
Plotts was carrying more than three dozen bullets in his pocket and
was trying to reload when two hospital employees wrestled him to the
ground, authorities said.
Authorities with a search warrant on Friday found two additional
handguns in Plotts' Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, home, prosecutors
said.
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Plotts has a long criminal history involving firearms. Philadelphia
police stopped Plotts in 1990 for carrying an unlicensed firearm. He
later served time for federal bank robbery and after his release
from prison, violated parole when he was caught with a gun,
prosecutors said.
He was sentenced in 2003 to up to 23 months in prison for being a
felon in possession of a gun.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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