Postman Shot Dead in USA

[Danny Mac]

I wonder what Buk would have said about this fun little topic. I'm sure he would have something along the lines of, "I warned you about *#%&$* like this." Modern America, the land where people shoot people dead about every other day.

Mommy, can I go for a walk and play in the park? No Tommy, Mommy wants you to stay inside. It's day time, you may be shot and killed. OK Mommy.

By Sky News US Team
A 26-year-old postal worker has been shot and killed while delivering mail in Maryland.
Tyson Jerome Barnette was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene in Landover, about 10 miles (16km) from Washington.
Police are trying to identify suspects and a motive.
The US Postal Inspection Service is putting up a $100,000 (£61,700) reward for information leading to an arrest and a conviction.
Prince George's County police are offering a $25,000 (£15,000) reward for help in identifying suspects.
A resident, Paulette Richardson, told local TV WUSA9 that she "knew they were gunshots because I know what gunshots sound like. I started running."
More than 100 colleagues and friends gathered for a candle-lit vigil at the site of Mr Barnette's murder, holding a moment of silence and saying a prayer.
The scene of the crime is 10 miles from the US capital. Pic: CBS/WUSA
One of them, Elton Branson, said: "It's a tragedy and my heart goes out to him and his family.
"I understand that he had a little girl, and for her to go through her life now without her father is just very unfortunate."
Some of Mr Barnette's co-workers said his killing was an example of how dangerous their job can be, and expressed concern for their safety.
Kenneth Lerch, a union leader with the National Association of Letter Carriers, said the postal service is failing to protect workers after it gets dark.
"I'm outraged. I'm more than angry. It didn't have to happen," Mr Lerch said.
"It's bound to happen again if something is not done about it, it is inherently dangerous to deliver mail in the dark."
While it is rare for a postal worker to be killed while delivering mail, US Postal Service spokesman Frank Schissler said it has happened before.
A postal worker was killed north of Houston in May and in 2010 a deliveryman in Miami was shot dead.

 

[mjp]

"it is inherently dangerous to deliver mail in the dark."

Only a union leader could say that with a straight face.

 

[Digney in Burnaby]

Yeah, what happened to that "gloom of night" schtick?

pace is the essence
http://beingsakin.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/pace-is-the-essence/
as the mailman walked up the hill
he laughed
when he saw me.
I laughed too.
“yeah, Harry, I know:
just an old man with a hose
watering the parkway.
you got me…”

those guys think it’s got to be
war
all the time.
I’m just taking a
rest.
when I finally press that red
button
they’ll wish I was
back watering the
gladiolas.

 

[Otto jr]

Buk had a good poem about the rash of road-rage shootings that gripped LA in the late 80s or so.
The gist of the poem was that people had suddenly become more courteous while driving.

 

[zobraks]

In case some of you couldn't sleep well for the last year and a half wondering what was the poem Otto jr had been referring to, let me tell you that it's Traffic Report:

here in Los Angeles
on the freeways
it’s like the Wild West
again.
many of the drivers carry guns
...
but out of it all, something else
has emerged:
far more polite driving habits.
...

 

[Pogue Mahone Athbheoim]

This took place eight months after Bukowski resigned. It sounds like this shift overlapped with his.

 

[Johannes]

Wikipedia page about the Terminal Annex also lists some other incidents.

During nearly 50 years as the city's central postal processing facility, the Terminal Annex suffered a number of scandals and tragedies, including the following:

• In 1954, two veteran postal employees were charged with being the ringleaders of two large bookmaking operations operating out of the Terminal Annex. Investigators alleged that 10-15 other employees were involved in the operations.[16]
• In 1970, a postal supervisor was shot and killed at the Terminal Annex by a disgruntled postal clerk. After the supervisor ordered the clerk to leave work for intoxication, the clerk waited outside the annex and shot the supervisor in the back three times as the supervisor ran toward the security desk, calling for help.[17]
• In 1978, a pipe bomb, wrapped in a package, exploded in a sorting room at the Terminal Annex, slightly injuring six postal workers.[18]
• In 1985, a malfunctioning voltage line in the basement of the Terminal Annex caused an 8+1⁄2-hour power blackout that halted operations at the facility. The power outage resulted in a one-day delay in the delivery of 1.5 million pieces of mail and was front-page news in the Los Angeles Times.[12]
• In 1986, 12 postal workers employed at the Terminal Annex were charged as alleged pushers of both powder and rock cocaine.[19]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Post_Office-Los_Angeles_Terminal_Annex