'She Was Loved': Medical Assistant Killed In Clinic Shooting Dreamed Of Writing Children's Book About Her Family

A Minnesota nursing assistant who died in a medical clinic shooting earlier this week was a poker journalist and mother of two, who dreamed of publishing a children’s book, her family said.

Lindsay Overbay, 37, was the lone fatality of Tuesday’s mass shooting at the Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reported. She died at a county hospital in Minneapolis. 

"When they told me when I got to the hospital that she didn't make it, I didn't cry,” her husband Donnie Overbay told the newspaper. “I was just in shock."

Four others were wounded after Gregory Ulrich, 67, allegedly stormed the clinic with a semi-automatic handgun and opened fire shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, police said. He also allegedly detonated three "improvised explosive devices," according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. 

The grieving husband said he was working on a “Pokémon” puzzle with his daughter when he learned gunfire had erupted at his wife’s workplace.

"I remember running around the house and I still had puzzle pieces in my hand," Donnie Overbay said.

The electrician had planned to buy his wife a Valentine’s gift later that day, he said. Instead, he found himself weeping alone in a corner at Hennepin County Medical Center.

"Did I do enough?” He asked. “Did I show her that I truly loved her every day? I just would like her to realize how much she was loved and how much she's going to be missed."

The couple met at a bar in Las Vegas, he said. Their first date was a softball game. They have two children together. 

"I wanted five,” Donnie Overbay told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “She wanted none. We negotiated to three and ended up with two."

He described his late wife as "one of the strongest, smartest, wittiest" people he’d ever met. She’ll be remembered for her sonorous laugh, he said. 

"If you walked into the clinic and you heard her laughing, you knew exactly who it was," Donnie Overbay recalled.

Lindsay Overbay had recently attained her nursing assistant’s certificate, her spouse said. The 37-year-old, a former poker writer, also hoped to one day author a children’s book based on their family.

"Now I don't get to see her live that dream out," Donnie Overbay said.

Lindsay Overbay Photo: Facebook

Friends of the Minnesota mother described her as a “lovable human being.”

“Her laugh was the best sound,” longtime friend Naiya Stubbe also said. “It was hard not to fall immediately in love with her.”

Four other people were wounded in the shooting. Sherry Curtis, a practical nurse with Allina Health, was the only other identified victim, according to WCCO-TV.

The suspected clinic shooter was previously known to authorities for harassing doctors and his hatred of the healthcare system, police said.

"We are very familiar with the suspect," Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke told CNN. "There is a history of him being unhappy with health care — with the health care he received.” 

In 2018, Ulrich allegedly threatened to commit a mass shooting at the Allina clinic, according to police records, KMSP-TV reported. A doctor disclosed to law enforcement that Ulrich had phoned him a number of times and rambled about “shooting, blowing things up and practicing different scenarios of how to get revenge.”

“[He] wanted it big and sensational so that it makes an impact," the doctor told police. “I believe Ulrich is a high threat to society and himself.”

Ulrich was supposedly angry over complications resulting from past back surgeries and prescription drug issues, the outlet reported. The doctor later secured a restraining order against him. The 67-year-old reportedly suffers from mental health issues.

Ulrich was charged with second-degree murder, four counts of first-degree attempted murder, possession of an explosive device, and carrying a firearm without a license, according to Wright County Attorney's Office. He appeared in court on Thursday, NBC News reported.