A troubled patient opened fire on a caseworker and psychiatrist in a small office at a unit of Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Delaware County on Thursday afternoon, police said, leading the doctor to draw his own weapon and shoot the assailant. 
 
 The confrontation left the caseworker, 53-year-old Theresa Hunt, dead and the 52-year-old psychiatrist, a veteran doctor at the hospital whom sources identified as Lee Silverman, with a graze wound to the head. The patient, Richard Plotts, was in critical condition Thursday night from three gunshot wounds. 
 
 The violence sent a shock wave through the normally quiet campus of the medical center on the border of Darby Borough and Yeadon. Police vehicles swarmed the scene and armed officers charged through the building - the Sister Marie Lenahan Wellness Center, across Lansdowne Avenue from the main hospital - to evacuate doctors, nurses, and patients waiting for routine appointments. 
 
 Authorities said they believed Silverman shot Plotts three times in the torso and arm. Silverman was expected to be released from the hospital Thursday night and recover fully. 
 
 Plotts, of Upper Darby, who appeared to have a long criminal record, was undergoing surgery Thursday night at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. If he survives, he will be charged Friday with murder, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said. 
 
 It was not clear why Silverman, a doctor for nearly 25 years, was armed at the office. Bernice Ho, a spokeswoman for Mercy Fitzgerald, said Thursday it was against hospital policy for anyone other than security guards to carry weapons. 
 
 Donald Molineux, chief of the Yeadon Police Department, said that if Silverman returned fire and wounded Plotts, he "without a doubt saved lives." 
 
 Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital called the incident "a tragic event for our hospital and for our community," and said its community was praying for the victims. 
 
 "We are grateful for the efforts of the emergency responders, and we are working with the Delaware County police departments to understand fully the details of the event and to do all we can to assist those affected," hospital officials said in a statement. 
 
 Founded in 1933 by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Mercy Fitzgerald is a 213-bed hospital that serves more than 186,000 patients each year. 
 
 Why Plotts was there was unclear. Whelan said Plotts has a history of psychiatric problems. 
 
 Court records show that a Delaware County man matching his name and age - authorities said Plotts was in his mid- to late 40s - was sentenced in 1996 to more than seven years in prison for robbing a bank in Wilmington. Other court records show that an Upper Darby man with the same name and age has been arrested numerous times over the last 30 years for assault, drugs, weapons possession, and other offenses. 
 
 On Thursday, Whelan described how the meeting among Plotts, Silverman, and Hunt abruptly took a violent turn. 
 
 Plotts and Hunt went to Silverman's third-floor office shortly before 2:30 p.m., Whelan said. Plotts was apparently armed, Whelan said, and people near the room soon heard shouting. 
 
 Concerned, a hospital employee "actually opened the door, saw him pointing a gun at the doctor," Whelan said. The worker shut the door quietly and immediately called 911. 
 
 Plotts then opened fire. According to Whelan, he shot Hunt two times in the face. The psychiatrist then ducked under his desk, retrieved his gun, and came up shooting, striking Plotts three times. 
 
 Staff members rushed toward the scene. Plotts ended up in the hallway, and another caseworker and a doctor tackled and pinned him, Whelan said. 
 
 As police arrived, the building was being evacuated and placed in a lockdown. Patients and doctors streamed onto the lawn and driveways surrounding the building, which contains offices for outpatient services, including pediatrics, cardiology, pulmonary care, and psychiatry. 
 
 Allen Williams of Upper Darby was handing over his identification and health card for his X-Ray appointment when police officers rushed into the lobby. 
 
 "They came in with guns drawn," he said. "It was just a shock to me." 
 
 Alfred Williams said he had just left a doctor's appointment and was waiting for a ride home when, suddenly, swarms of police officers descended on the scene. 
 
 "They kept coming," Williams said. "Guys with helmets and automatic weapons kept jumping out of their cars. It was total panic. . . . I saw three people come out in stretchers." 
 
 Anna Smith, an ultrasound technician, was on the first floor of the building celebrating a colleague's 60th birthday when police burst in and told everyone to leave through the back door, she said. 
 
 "There's a sign on the door that says you have to check your weapons at the front," she said. "But you can't expect every crazy person to do that." 
 
 Former neighbors at Plotts' apartment building along West Chester Pike in Upper Darby said Plotts was an uneasy presence in the neighborhood until he moved out sometime in the last year. The tall, solidly built Plotts seemed like he was either "on drugs or heavily medicated," said Bert Garcia. 
 
 "He was a big guy," Garcia said. "He could be intimidating." 
 
 Once, before he moved out, Garcia found that he had removed some ceiling tiles in the hallway and was messing around with the wiring. Another time, he told Garcia he had stabbed himself in the leg - but Garcia saw no blood. 
 
 "You could tell there was something wrong," neighbor Cathy Nickel said. "He needed help." 
 
 asteele@phillynews.com 
 
 610-313-8113 610-313-8113 @AESteele ||||| A psychiatric patient opened fire inside a wellness center in Darby, PA, Thursday, according to police. His case worker was killed, and a doctor suffered a graze wound to the head. In the exchange, police tell NBC10 the doctor returned fire with his own gun, critically wounding the suspect. NBC10's George Spencer has the latest on the investigation. (Published Thursday, July 24, 2014) 
 
 A female case worker was killed and a doctor shot when a psychiatric patient opened fire on them Thursday in a wellness center on the campus of a Delaware County, Pennsylvania, hospital, officials say. 
 
 Officials say that patient was then shot by the doctor, who returned fire from his own gun. 
 
 The shootout took place around 2:20 p.m. Thursday inside a doctor's office in the psychiatric unit at the Sister Marie Lenahan Wellness Center, officials say. The center is located along the 1500 block of Lansdowne Avenue in Darby, Pa. That's located across from Mercy-Fitzgerald hospital, on its campus. 
 
 The gunman, identified as Richard Plotts, of Upper Darby, had come to the unit with his caseworker, 53-year-old Theresa Hunt of Philadelphia, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan. They then went behind closed doors in a doctor's third floor office when a confrontation occurred. 
 
 IMAGES: Mercy-Fitzgerald Hospital Shooting 
 
 “A worker did confirm that he heard some loud arguing going on. They came in and they actually opened the door and saw him pointing a gun at the doctor. They did not notice the case worker at that point. They shut the door very quietly and one immediately called 911," Whelan said. 
 
 The DA said a short time went by and then gunfire erupted from Plotts' gun. Plotts has had run-ins with the doctor's and hospital staff in the past, Whelan said. 
 
 Both the doctor, identified as Dr. Lee Silverman, and the case worker were hit by the gunfire. The woman was fatally shot in the small office, and the doctor was grazed in the head, Whelan said. 
 
 Silverman also pulled out his weapon and fired upon the suspect, the preliminary investigation showed. Plotts was hit three times in the torso, Whelan said. 
 
 Other doctors and case workers then rushed into the room and tackled the man to the ground, wrestling with him for the weapon. 
 
 “We’re not exactly sure what had occurred and what might have precipitated this particular incident," Whelan said. "We do know the psychiatric connection, we have that concern, however we don’t know if there was another dispute that occurred inside that room that led to these shots being fired." 
 
 Shooting Suspect Had Previous Run-Ins With Staff 
 
 The wellness center shooting suspect, Richard Plotts, has had multiple, "turbulent interactions" with staff at Mercy-Fitzgerald, according to District Attorney Jack Whelan. NBC10's George Spencer has more. (Published Thursday, July 24, 2014) 
 
 Both Plotts and Silverman were taken to the trauma center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in nearby Philadelphia. The suspect is in surgery and is listed in critical condition, Whelan said. The doctor's condition has not been released. 
 
 Officials say a 911 call came in at 2:19 p.m. with the caller saying a doctor had been shot. The center and hospital was quickly placed on lockdown as police swarmed the campus. 
 
 Allen Williams was checking in his father for an X-ray on the center's ground floor when the shooting happened. 
 
 "As we were giving the information, they said the hospital is on lockdown and they locked out the doors. They told us to sneak out the back door," he said. “I was hoping everyone was going to get out safe." 
 
 Williams slowly led his father, who uses a walker, in a group of 15 people onto a grassy area outside the building. He says police kept them at the scene as they checked the building. 
 
 Police arrived within minutes and evacuated the entire wellness center as SWAT officers swept the building as a precaution. 
 
 The Sister Marie Lenahan Wellness Center has physician offices and offers outpatient services for ambulatory care, audiology, cardiac rehabilitation, radiology and hearing and balance, according to the health system's website. 
 
 Late Thursday night, Mercy Fitzgerald released this statement regarding the deadly shooting: 
 
 "We continue to pray for the victims and their families. As this is an ongoing investigation, we remain focused on working with the Delaware County Police Departments to understand fully the details of the event and to do all we can to assist those affected. 
 
 
 
 We are thankful for the responders to this incident, the many law enforcement professionals who are a part of the investigation, and the outpouring of support we have received from our community." 
 
 A large police presence from Yeadon, Haverford Township and other Delaware County law enforcement agencies remained at the scene for hours as the crime scene was processed. 
 
 Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.
– Police near Philadelphia say a psychiatric patient opened fire inside his doctor's office today, killing his caseworker and injuring the doctor—but the doctor then pulled a gun of his own and shot the patient three times, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The patient was in critical condition, while the 52-year-old doctor was grazed in the head by a bullet and is expected to recover. "We're not sure exactly what happened," says the Delaware County DA of today's incident at the Sister Marie Lenahan Wellness Center in Darby. Witnesses and police say the patient, identified as Richard Plotts, entered the doctor's office with his 53-year-old female caseworker, and soon shouting could be heard from the room, reports NBC Philadelphia. One worker reported opening the door and seeing Plotts with a gun pointed at the doctor. Someone then called 911, but shooting erupted before officers arrived. Plotts got shot twice in the torso and once in the arm.