List of postal killings
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This is a list of postal killings. These are attacks that resulted in fatalities that have occurred on the properties of postal systems or related issues/events.
The main sections are divided by countries. Events are listed in chronological order.
Contents |
[edit] Australia
- December 8, 1987, Queen Street Massacre, Melbourne: Frank Vitkovic, former law student entered the Australia Post building on Queen Street at 4pm with the intent to murder a former school friend and kill as many people as possible before taking his own life. Around 8pm after the gun was wrestled from him, he jumped or was pushed to his death from the 12th floor. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of 8 people and the serious injury of 5 more.
[edit] Canada
- October 30, 1934, Quebec: Rosaire Bilodeau, ex carrier of the Quebec postal service, drove five of his family out in the woods, in two trips, and killed them. He then took 8 shots at postmaster Morin, senior mail clerk Moise Jolicoeur, and divisional superintendent Oscar Fiset, killing Jolicoeur. (Family Herald and Weekly Star, (October 31, 1934, p48)
[edit] United States
- August 19, 1983, Johnston, South Carolina: Perry Smith, a resigned USPS employee, charged into a postal office with a 12-gauge shotgun and began firing at workers in a hall, killing the postmaster and wounding two other employees.[1]
- August 20, 1986, Edmond, Oklahoma: Patrick Sherrill, a part-time letter carrier, enters the Edmond Postal Office and fatally shoots 14 employees and wounds another six. He subsequently committed suicide.
- August 10, 1989, Escondido, California: John Merlin Taylor kills wife, then two colleagues and self at Orange Glen post office.
- October 11, 1991: fired postal worker Joseph M. Harris kills his ex-supervisor and her boyfriend at their home in Wayne, New Jersey, then kills two former colleagues as they arrive at the Ridgewood, New Jersey post office where they all previously worked together. According to "Today in Rotten History," Harris was initially armed with an Uzi, pipe bomb, and "samurai sword" and was later arrested garbed in a ninja's outfit and gas mask. [1] He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He died on death row in 1996. [2]
- November 14, 1991, Royal Oak, Michigan: fired postal worker Thomas McIlvane kills four, wounds five, kills self.
- May 6, 1993, Orange County, California: Fired postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun kills his mother, then shoots two workers at Dana Point post office, killing one. Serving life term.
- May 6, 1993, Dearborn, Michigan: Postal worker Larry Jasion kills one, wounds three, then kills self at a post office garage.
- March 21, 1995, Montclair, New Jersey: former postal worker Christopher Green, highly indebted, kills four and one while robbing post office. Serving life term.
- July 9, 1995, City of Industry, California: postal worker Bruce William Clark kills supervisor with gun he concealed in paper sack. Serving 22 years for second-degree murder.
- September 2, 1997, Miami Beach, Florida: 21-year postal employee Jesus Antonio Tamayo shoots ex-wife and friend, whom he saw waiting in line, then killed himself.
- April 17, 1998, Dallas, Texas: letter carrier Maceo Yarbough III fatally shoots a clerk after an argument. Found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, ordered to mental health facility.
- January 30, 2006, Goleta, California: former mail processor Jennifer San Marco, 44, kills six employees (five immediately, another died later. A possible seventh victim, a former neighbor, was found dead in her apartment and has yet to be confirmed to be of the same shooting. Marco committed suicide at the sorting facility. [2][3][4]
- April 4, 2006, Baker City, Oregon: Letter carrier Grant Gallaher entered the federal building in this Eastern Oregon city Tuesday afternoon intending to kill postmaster Michael McGuire. Unable to find McGuire, Gallaher left the building and shot 49-year-old co-worker Lori Hayes-Kotter several times at close range. Gallaher had been a postal employee for 13 years and Hayes-Kotter for 17.
[edit] References
- ^ AlterNet: MediaCulture: EXCERPT: Breaking Down at the Post Office
- ^ CNN.com - Seven dead in California postal shooting - Jan 31, 2006
- ^ BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US ex-postal employee kills six
- ^ ABC News: ABC News
