U.S. Postal Service workers expressed grief and frustration on Friday after a letter carrier was shot and killed delivering mail in the West Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s Far South Side.
The postal worker was outside a home and near her mail truck before 11:40 a.m. in the 12100 block of South Harvard Avenue when an unknown man approached her and opened fire, striking her multiple times. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Officer later identified her as Octavia Redmond.
Following her death, Redmond’s coworkers gathered outside Advocate Christ Medical Center and pushed for answers.
Redmond’s good friends and co-workers said she was a mother of three and talked of leaving the job.
“Octavia Sawyer Redmond was the sweetest, the sweetest person ever,” said her friend, Kenia Wooden.
Friday’s deadly shooting marked yet another act of violence against postal workers; Redmond is at least the third killed nationwide this year. In Chicago, five armed robberies against USPS workers have been reported since December.
As a result, the letter carriers’ union is asking for additional safety measures.
“I want some protection for the letter carriers out there,” said Elise Foster with the letter carriers’ union. “I don’t care what it takes. If you need to walk every block with them to make sure they get home safe, that’s what needs to happen.”
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction. Anyone with information about who may be responsible is asked to call the agency’s 24/7 hotline at 877-876-2455.
All calls placed to the hotline are kept strictly confidential, according to the agency.