Man gets life term in Philadelphia-area hospital shooting

MEDIA, Pa. -- A suburban Philadelphia has been sentenced to life in prison in the shooting death of his caseworker and the wounding of his psychiatrist, who returned fire with his own gun to end the siege at a hospital complex last year.

Fifty-year-old Richard Plotts of Upper Darby man pleaded guilty but mentally ill to first-degree murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

He was sentenced Friday in Delaware County Court to a mandatory life term on the murder count and an additional 15 to 30 years on the other counts.

Authorities said Plotts killed 53-year-old Theresa Hunt at the Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital campus in Yeadon in July 2014. He also grazed Dr. Lee Silverman in the temple and thumb before the doctor pulled out his gun and wounded Plotts.