Edmond post office shooting | |
---|---|
Location | Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S. |
Date | August 20, 1986 ~7:00–7:15 a.m. (UTC-05) |
Target | Postal workers |
Attack type | Mass shooting, mass murder, workplace shooting, murder-suicide |
Weapons |
|
Deaths | 15 (including the perpetrator) |
Injured | 6 |
Perpetrator | Patrick Henry Sherrill |
Motive | Revenge due to previous reprimands |
The Edmond post office shooting was a mass shooting that occurred in Edmond, Oklahoma, on August 20, 1986. In less than fifteen minutes, 44-year-old postal worker Patrick Sherrill pursued and shot several coworkers, killing 14 and injuring another six, before committing suicide. It is currently the deadliest workplace shooting in U.S. history, as well as the deadliest shooting by a lone gunman in the state of Oklahoma.
The attack, among other similar incidences of violence perpetrated by postal workers, inspired the American phrase "going postal". [3]
Sherrill was a 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 lacked the same job stability as 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 badgered by management. In any case, on the afternoon of August 19, 1986, supervisors Esser and Bland reprimanded Sherrill for his behavior. [4] Sherrill had threatened revenge twice out of anger towards being disciplined. [5]
On August 20, 1986, Patrick Sherrill armed himself with a mail bag containing three semi-automatic pistols along with ammunition and arrived at his workplace. [6] [5] After entering the building, he locked the doors behind him. [7] Shortly after 7:00 a.m., he shot and 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. However, Bland had overslept that morning and arrived an hour late to work, by which time the shootings were already over. Not finding Bland, Sherrill then killed co-worker Paul Michael Rockne, [1] and sought more co-workers to kill. [5]
At the time of the attack, around 100 workers occupied the facility. [1] In total, Sherrill killed fourteen people and wounded six others. [5] The shooting ended after Sherrill committed suicide by shooting himself in the forehead as police entered the facility. [1] [6]
Fourteen people were killed in the shooting, while six others were injured. Those killed were Patricia Ann Chambers, 41; Judy Stephens Denney, 41; Richard C. Esser Jr., 38; Patricia A. Gabbard, 47; Jonna Ruth Gragert, 30; Patty Jean Husband, 48; Betty Ann Jarred, 34; William F. Miller, 30; Kenneth W. Morey, 49; Leroy Orrin Phillips, 42; Jerry Ralph Pyle, 51; Paul Michael Rockne, 33; Thomas Wade Shader Jr., 31; and Patti Lou Welch, 27. [1]
The Yellow Ribbon Memorial is a commemorative outdoor structure dedicated to the victims of the Edmond, Oklahoma post office shooting. Dedicated on May 29, 1989, it is located outside the post office's main entry to the south. The memorial contains the bronze statue of a man and a woman standing atop the fountain's center base and holding the ribbon whose bow is attached to the base. To represent the fourteen victims killed in the shooting, the fountain contains fourteen water jets and a plaque on the front of the base listing their names. [8]
The memorial was built by the Edmond community and the United States Postal Services; [9] the statue was created by sculptor Richard Muno (1939–2015). [9] [10] Community members have gathered at the memorial to commemorate the victims, especially on the 25th (2011) [11] and 30th (2016) [12] anniversaries.
The memorial was surveyed in May 1996 as "well maintained", categorized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. [8] Over the years, the memorial slowly deteriorated with apparent "cracks in the concrete". [13] [14] Throughout the early 2010s, operations of the fountain were halted for, according to USPS, "a damaged water supply line". [13] As of 2016, the fountain still operates seasonally. [12] [14]
Patrick Henry Sherrill (November 13, 1941 – August 20, 1986) was born in Watonga, Oklahoma, and had served in the United States Marine Corps. Sherrill was described as a loner by those who knew him. [15] He was considered an expert marksman, [1] gaining experience in small-arms through being in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, [5] where he was a member of a pistol team. [1]
The 1986 Edmond incident was the first of several highly publicized postal shootings.
Taft is a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 174 as of the 2020 Census. The locale began as an all-black town on land allotted to Creek Freedmen. It is named for President William Howard Taft.
Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, a 16% increase from 2010. making it the 5th most populous city in Oklahoma.
Going postal is an American English slang phrase referring to becoming extremely and uncontrollably angry, often to the point of violence, and usually in a workplace environment. The expression derives from a series of incidents from 1986 onward in which United States Postal Service (USPS) workers shot and killed managers, fellow workers, police officers and members of the general public in acts of mass murder. Between 1970 and 1997, more than 40 people were killed by then-current or former employees in at least 20 incidents of workplace rage. Between 1986 and 2011, workplace shootings happened roughly twice per year, with an average of 1.18 people killed per year.
Columbine High School (CHS) is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States, in the Denver metropolitan area. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district.
The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was a mass murder, which occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, fatally shot 21 people and wounded 19 others before being killed by a police sniper approximately 77 minutes after he had first opened fire.
Edmond Memorial High School is a public secondary school located in Edmond, Oklahoma, one of three high schools in the Edmond school district. It serves approximately 2,300 students.
Workplace violence, violence in the workplace, or occupational violence refers to violence, usually in the form of physical abuse or threat, that creates a risk to the health and safety of an employee or multiple employees. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health defines worker on worker, personal relationship, customer/client, and criminal intent all as categories of violence in the workplace. These four categories are further broken down into three levels: Level one displays early warning signs of violence, Level two is slightly more violent, and level three is significantly violent. Many workplaces have initiated programs and protocols to protect their workers as the Occupational Health Act of 1970 states that employers must provide an environment in which employees are free of harm or harmful conditions.
Edmond Santa Fe High School is a public high school located in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1993, Santa Fe is one of three traditional high schools in the Edmond Public Schools district, along with Edmond Memorial High School and Edmond North High School. The school's mascot is the Wolf and the school colors are forest green and gray.
Roger Dale Stafford was a convicted serial killer executed for the 1978 murders of the Lorenz Family and six employees of a Sirloin Stockade restaurant in Oklahoma. Stafford never acknowledged his guilt, but Stafford's wife, Verna, implicated him in a total of 34 murders in seven different states.
Murder By Proxy: How America Went Postal is a 2010 American documentary film that examines the phenomenon of spree killing, particularly in a workplace, that became known in the United States as "going postal".
On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, United States, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. Dressed in tactical clothing, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms. Twelve people were killed, and 70 others were injured, 58 of them from gunfire.
The 2012 Moscow shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on 7 November 2012, in which six people were killed and one person injured by a lone gunman at a warehouse in northeast Moscow, Russia. The perpetrator, Dmitry Vinogradov, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Sherrill is a surname.
The Broken Arrow murders, otherwise known as the Bever family massacre, was a familicide and mass stabbing that occurred on July 22, 2015, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The perpetrators, Robert and Michael Bever, murdered their parents and 3 siblings. It was the deadliest crime and mass murder in the city of Broken Arrow, until a murder-suicide in October 2022 which killed 8 people.
In the early hours on the morning of June 8, 2017, employees at a Weis Markets supermarket in Eaton Township, Pennsylvania, United States, were stocking and closing the store for the night. Shortly before 1:00 a.m., 24-year-old Randy Stair barricaded the exits of the store and proceeded to shoot and kill three of his co-workers before fatally shooting himself.
Ryan Martinez is an American politician who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from the 39th District from 2016 through his resignation in 2023. An influential member during his tenure, Martinez resigned after charges for driving under the influence generated a political scandal and a lawsuit seeking his removal from office.
On November 14, 1991, a mass shooting occurred at the United States Post Office in Royal Oak, Michigan, United States. In the incident, a disgruntled former postal worker, identified as 31-year-old Thomas McIlvane, shot and killed four post office employees before committing suicide.