Pennsylvania

Wellness Center Shooting Suspect Due in Court for Preliminary Hearing

A Philadelphia-area man accused of fatally shooting his caseworker and grazing his psychiatrist before the doctor returned fire is due in court.

A preliminary hearing is set for 1 p.m. on Tuesday to determine whether there's enough evidence to prosecute Richard Plotts for the July 24 shooting.

Plotts, 49, was in the psychiatrist's office inside the Sister Marie Lenahan Wellness Center on the Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital's campus in Darby, Pennsylvania when he took his doctor and health care case worker hostage, prosecutors said. The man was allegedly upset over the hospital's ban on guns.

The situation eventually escalated and Plotts allegedly opened fire on the staffers using .32 caliber revolver. The man's health care caseworker, 53-year-old Theresa Hunt, was hit and killed. His physician, Dr. Lee Silverman, was grazed in the head and thumb before firing back with his own weapon, injuring the suspect.

Plotts is charged with first and third-degree murder, criminal homicide, reckless endangerment and related charges.

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