Patrick Sherrill
|
Patrick Henry Sherrill (November 13th, 1941 - August 20th, 1986) was a United States Postal Service employee and a peeping tom, who, on August 20th, 1986, committed a mass shooting at the post office he worked at in Edmond, Oklahoma. He killed 14 employees with two .45 caliber pistols before turning one of the guns on himself and committing suicide. Six other employees were wounded. Security expert Gavin de Becker said that postal authorities ignored numerous signs of Sherrill's unstable and hostile attitude. He was also disliked by those in his neighborhood because he had a bad habit of creeping around at night and staring into his neighbors' homes. For this reason, local children often taunted him with nicknames like "Crazy Pat".
Background edit
Sherrill was a relief carrier who would work routes on different days. He was excellent in making deliveries and frequently delivered mail earlier than customers anticipated. On the afternoon of Aug. 19th , 1986, Sherrill was reprimanded by two supervisors in a glassed-in office over personal matters unrelated to the profession.
On the afternoon before the killings, he approached a female clerk who had been kind to him (while most people ignored him or hassled him) and asked her if she was coming to work the next day. She replied, "Of course." He told her she should stay home.
He began with one of the two supervisors who had spoken to him the previous day; the other supervisor had, for the first time ever, overslept and was an hour late to work, by which time the shootings were already underway. The second victim was Mike Rockne, grandson of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. Fourteen people died during the attack, and six others were wounded. Some of the wounded survived because they played dead. The incident lasted between 15 and 20 minutes.
At the time, it was the third-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The incident is credited with inspiring the American phrase "going postal".
Sherrill's victims
- Patricia Ann Chambers, 41, part-time clerk
- Judy Stephens Denney, 41, part-time clerk
- Richard C. Esser Jr., 38, supervisor
- Patricia A. Gabbard, 47, clerk
- Jonna Gragert Hamilton, 30, clerk
- Patty Jean Husband, 48, supervisor
- Betty Ann Jarred, 34, clerk
- William F. Miller, 30, rural carrier
- Kenneth W. Morey, 49, rural carrier
- Leroy Orrin Phillips, 42, rural carrier
- Jerry Ralph Pyle, 51, rural carrier
- Paul Michael Rockne, 33, letter carrier
- Thomas Wade Shader Jr., 31, part-time clerk
- Patti Lou Welch, 27, clerk
