A female mail carrier was shot in the hip Friday when a stray bullet pierced the window of a USPS truck in East Oakland.
OAKLAND (CBS SF) — A female U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was stable condition at a local hospital after she was shot while she was in a postal vehicle in East Oakland early Friday afternoon, according to a U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokesman.
The shooting occurred near the corner of Bancroft and Avenal Avenues shortly after noon Friday, Postal Inspection Service spokesman Jeff Fitch said.
It appears that the shooting was unrelated to the woman’s job, Fitch said.
However, Fitch declined to disclose additional details about the shooting and said he doesn’t want to speculate on a motive for it
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Okay, management, lawmakers and public at large: now do you believe letter carriers when they say they are in increasing danger all the time? We offer universal service, but I believe that requirement should be amended, and the NALC should support it and push for it. As a recently retired city letter carrier, I was lucky not to be held up or worse in a very rotten neighborhood in a city that experiences lots of gang violence and drive by shootings. It isn’t a major population center, either, just a small city where one wouldn’t think too much of what is commonly considered urban problems. But for various reasons I won’t get into, percentage wise it’s one of the worst cities in the state nearly in every category. I did not transfer out because I had too much seniority and at one time it wasn’t that bad. Plus, I’m not around in the evening or nighttime where most of that stuff goes on or on a school campus.
Nonetheless, I think the state of some parts of urban America especially in notorious cities like Oakland, the Chicago south side, north Philly, most of D.C. that isn’t right down on Pennsylvania Avenue, etc. has deteriorated to provide ample justification for the USPS to be allowed to unilaterally discontinue service in some areas, temporarily and permanently. If people in these gang infested areas can’t or won’t make entry into them safe enough for mailmen and women to deliver their mail then they should be forced to rent PO boxes. Repeat offense neighborhoods would be the first to go, and others as needed.
Article 14 of the JCAM gives carriers the right to refuse to perform their duties in dangerous and unsafe situations, and this kind of incident most certainly qualifies. Some people advocate arming letter carriers, but I’m of the opinion that doing this could aggravate a confrontation and in all likelihood as is usually the case in gang activities, there would be several gang bangers against one carrier. However, aside from permanent discontinuation of mail to certain high crime areas, I’m not enthusiastic about any options left. We should be allowed to refuse service when it’s not safe, and management should comply provided it isn’t a pathetic excuse like rain, or snow and ice when a carrier lives in a city like Buffalo.
now I hope she take’s the COP for 45 days…………then goes out and gets a pistol permit. all letter carriers in jungle bunny land need to be packing heat! they do in Moscow, Russia! she is going places ……..Megan Brennen had an IOD and look where she is now! now that Ringling Brothers closed down……Postal Circus is the only show in town.
America just needs more guns. If only every man, woman, and child were armed the gun violence would go down. Time to place .50 cal. machine guns on government trucks. Our government encourages it’s citizens to be violent. People in the past weren’t allowed to walk around with guns, you couldn’t buy silencers for your gun, you couldn’t walk into a bar with a loaded gun. However now you can! Why? The new America, it’s every man for themselves. The new government only wants to collect tax revenue and protect business any way possible from those nasty consumers and lazy employees.