3 employees killed in shooting at postal facility in Memphis

Memphis, October 13

Two US Postal Service workers were fatally shot Tuesday at a postal facility in Memphis and a third employee identified as the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said.

It was the third high-profile shooting in or near that west Tennessee city in weeks.

US Postal Inspector Susan Link said that three postal workers were found dead after the shooting at the East Lamar Carrier Annex in a neighbourhood southeast of downtown Memphis.

FBI spokeswoman Lisa-Anne Culp said at a news briefing with Link and others that the shooting was carried out by a third postal service worker. But no identities or possible motive were immediately released.

The street leading to the post office was blocked by police for hours afterward. A white four-door car was towed from the scene, but it was not clear who it belonged to.

“The Postal Service is saddened at the events that took place today in Memphis,” USPS said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with the family members, friends and co-workers of the individuals involved.” 

The violence follows other shootings in the Memphis area in recent weeks. The franchise owner of a sushi counter inside a Kroger grocery store fatally shot one person and wounded 14 others before killing himself on September 23, investigators said.

A week later, a teenage boy was shot and critically wounded inside a Memphis school and police detained a second boy believed to be the shooter.

On October 18, 2010, two mail workers were fatally shot during a robbery at a post office in the rural West Tennessee town of Henning. The post office was named in honour of the slain employees last week. — AP