Postal Worker Shoots Two Co-Workers at Des Moines Post Office; Three Hurt, Suspect Detained
A 39-year-old Postal Service employee shot two co-workers at the main post office in Des Moines on Thursday morning and was arrested minutes later on a nearby bike path. Three people were hurt, none with injuries believed to be life-threatening.
A postal worker shot two of her co-workers at the main post office in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday morning, and police arrested her minutes later on a nearby bike path. Three people were hurt, and police said none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.
The shooting happened on the second floor of the post office at 1165 Second Avenue, in an area not open to the public, Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said. Witnesses reported hearing 10 to 12 shots.
The two women who were shot, ages 45 and 53, were taken to a hospital, along with a 55-year-old man who was hurt in a fall while trying to escape. “They’re all at the hospital. They are being cared for right now,” Parizek said. All three were in stable condition.
Arrested 11 minutes after the first calls
Police began receiving calls about the shooting around 9:10 a.m., and officers arrived within three minutes. The 39-year-old suspect, a Postal Service employee, was detained at 9:21 a.m. along a nearby bike path without resistance, Parizek said. A 9 mm handgun was recovered where she was detained. Authorities did not immediately identify her, and police said they had no information about a motive.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said it was investigating the shooting along with local, state and federal law enforcement. Des Moines police are leading the investigation, with help from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to CNN.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she was in contact with the Department of Public Safety. “We are monitoring the situation and our prayers are with everyone involved,” she posted online. “Grateful for the immediate response by law enforcement.”
Des Moines Public Schools said a nearby elementary school, welcome center and nutrition center temporarily barred anyone from entering or leaving the buildings during the shooting. Those restrictions were lifted after police said the suspect was in custody.
Past shootings at postal facilities
Past shootings at postal facilities have prompted the Postal Service to study employee safety. In 1986, a postal worker in Edmond, Oklahoma, shot 14 fellow workers before killing himself. In 1991, a fired postal worker killed four former co-workers at his former post office in Royal Oak, Michigan, before killing himself.
After those and other shootings, postal officials commissioned a study, released in 2000, to examine workplace violence. The report issued several recommendations to flag violent tendencies while concluding that postal employees are less violent than the national workforce. In 2006, a former postal worker in Goleta, California, fatally shot six workers at a sorting facility before killing himself.
Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press and CNN.
