CHICAGO — United States Postal workers who deliver mail in some of Chicago’s more violent neighborhoods are threatening to halt their services after a mail carrier was shot in the city’s South Side earlier this month.
The letter carrier, a 24-year-old woman, was left critically injured after being shot multiple times at 91st Street and Ellis Avenue while delivering mail on September 10. Police said the mail carrier did not appear to be the target but was caught in a crossfire during a drive-by shooting.
She was the second letter carrier wounded by gunfire on that route, WSL-TV reported. Another employee, also caught in the middle of gunfire, was shot in March while on the job but survived.
A day after the second mail carrier was shot, another USPS employee was hit with a paintball in Chicago’s South Side.
As a result, Chicago postal workers rallied on Friday to demand that city officials address the threat to mail carriers’ safety, The Blaze reported. Mack Julion, president of the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Letter Carriers, advised workers to stop delivering in areas where they feel unsafe.
In many cases, the postal workers have been described as “terrified” as violence can spontaneously erupt at all hours of the day.
“Any letter carrier who does not feel safe in any one of these communities then they are not to deliver mail and customers have to pick up their mail,” Julion said. “We are not going to have another situation where the letter carrier is shot down.”
The 24-year-old shot while on the job earlier this month remains hospitalized, FOX reported. The Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Service Inspection is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooting suspect.
