Edmond post office shooting

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".

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 University of 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.

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:

Memorial

The Yellow Ribbon, the memorial to commemorate the victims of the shooting, was dedicated on May 29, 1989, currently located outside the post office, where the shooting occurred. The memorial contains the bronze statue of a man and a woman standing atop the fountain's center base and holding the ribbon of the bow attached to the base. To represent the victims killed in the shooting, the fountain also contains fourteen water jets and the plaque on the front of the base listing their names. The memorial was built by the Edmond community and the United States Postal Services; the statue, by sculptor Richard Muno (1939–2015). People have gathered at the memorial to commemorate the victims, especially on the 25th (2011) and 30th (2016) anniversaries.

The memorial was surveyed in May 1996 as "well maintained," categorized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Over the years, the memorial slowly deteriorated with apparent "cracks in the concrete." Throughout early 2010s, operations of the fountain were halted for, according to USPS, "a damaged water supply line." As of now, the fountain still operates.

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.

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

• Hanley, Robert (October 11, 1991). "4 Slain in 2 New Jersey Attacks And Former Postal Clerk Is Held". The New York Times. 
• "A former postal worker commits mass murder.". The History Channel website. 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-11. 
• Levin, Doron P. (November 15, 1991). "Ex-Postal Worker Kills 3 and Wounds 6 in Michigan". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-26. 
• Gregory K. Moffatt, Blind-Sided: Homicide Where It Is Least Expected, at 37 (2000).
• "DEATH IN THE POST OFFICE: THE OVERVIEW; Former Montclair Postal Worker Charged With Killings in Robbery". New York Times. March 23, 1995. 
• Holusha, John; Archibold, Randal C. (2006-02-01). "Ex-Employee Kills 6 Others and Herself at California Postal Plant". The New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2010.