Edmond post office shooting

Edmond post office shooting
Location	Edmond, Oklahoma, United States
Date	August 20, 1986 (1986-08-20) ~7:00 a.m. (UTC-08)
Attack type	Mass shooting, murder-suicide
Weapons	Two M1911 (.45 ACP) semiautomatic pistols Ruger (.22-caliber) semiautomatic pistol
Deaths	15 (including the perpetrator)
Injured	6
Motive	Unknown

The Edmond post office shooting occurred in Edmond, Oklahoma on August 20, 1986. During a deadly rampage that lasted less than fifteen minutes, postal worker Patrick Sherrill pursued and shot twenty co-workers, killing fourteen of them, before committing suicide. Sherrill's attack inspired the American phrase "going postal".

Shooting

Shortly after 7:00 a.m., Sherrill killed Richard Esser, Jr., one of two supervisors who had verbally disciplined him the previous day. Sherrill then sought out Bill Bland, another supervisor who had reprimanded him. (Fortunately for Bland, he overslept that morning and arrived an hour late to work, by which time the shootings were already over.) Not finding Bland, Sherrill then killed Paul Michael "Mike" Rockne (grandson of famous Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne).

100 workers occupied the small facility at the time of the attack. Fourteen people died at the scene, and six others suffered wounds requiring hospitalization. The day's violence ended when Sherrill shot himself in the forehead.

Possible motives

Sherrill's job title was relief carrier, meaning he was often required to work alternate routes on different days, a position dictated by his rank on the seniority list. His lack of a permanently assigned route meant that he did not rank the same job stability of other USPS workers. Opinions vary concerning his job performance. Some reports portray him as an erratic, irritable worker; others claim he performed well and was being picked on by management. In any case, on the afternoon of August 19, 1986 supervisors Esser and Bland reprimanded Sherrill for his behavior. Anger over this reprimand, coupled with anxiety that he was likely to be fired, could have been possible motives behind the attack the following morning.

Victims

File:1986-post-office-killing-spree-statue.jpg

Memorial to the 1986 post office incident in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Fourteen people were killed in the shooting, while six others were injured. The victims are:

Killed

• Patricia Ann Chambers, 41, part-time clerk
• Judy Stephens Denney, 41, part-time clerk
• Richard C. Esser Jr., 38, supervisor
• Patricia A. Gabbard, 47, clerk
• Jonna Gragert Hamilton, 30, clerk
• Patty Jean Husband, 48, supervisor
• Betty Ann Jarred, 34, clerk
• William F. Miller, 30, rural carrier
• Kenneth W. Morey, 49, rural carrier
• Leroy Orrin Phillips, 42, rural carrier
• Jerry Ralph Pyle, 51, rural carrier
• Paul Michael Rockne, 33, letter carrier
• Thomas Wade Shader Jr., 31, part-time clerk
• Patti Lou Welch, 27, clerk

Injured

• William Nimmo (injury unknown)
• Gene Bray (shot in back, bullet pierced one kidney and lodged in stomach)
• Michael Bigler (shot in shoulder from behind)
• Steve Vick (injury unknown)
• Judy Walker (shot in chest)
• Joyce Ingram (bullet entered chest and exited armpit, shattering bone in right arm)

Perpetrator

Patrick Sherrill
180px
Born	November 13, 1941 Watonga, Oklahoma, United States
Died	Edmond, Oklahoma, United States
Cause of death	Suicide
Occupation	Postal worker
Killings
Target(s)	United States Postal Service employees

Patrick Henry Sherrill (November 13, 1941 – August 20, 1986) was born in Watonga, Oklahoma and had served in the United States Marine Corps. He was considered an expert marksman and was a member of a National Guard pistol team.

Subsequent postal shooting incidents

Main article: List of postal killings

The 1986 Edmond incident was the first of several highly publicized postal shootings.

• 1991, Ridgewood, New Jersey
• 1991, Royal Oak, Michigan
• 1993, May 6, Dearborn, Michigan
• 1993, May 6, Dana Point, California
• 1995, Montclair, New Jersey
• 1997, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• 2006, Goleta, California

See also

• Mass shooting
• Workplace violence
  • Workplace aggression
  • Workplace conflict

External links

• Going postal
• "Crazy Pat's" Revenge, Time Magazine (June 24, 2001)
• The loner: From shy football player to "Crazy Pat", The New York Times (August 22, 1986)
• Aug. 20, 1986: Just an ordinary day, EnidNews.com (August 20, 2006)
• 15 die in post office rage, The News-Journal (August 21, 1986)
• Former marine kills 14, self, Lodi News-Sentinel (August 21, 1986)

• Gregory K. Moffatt, Blind-Sided: Homicide Where It Is Least Expected, at 37 (2000).