Postal worker accused of shooting 2 co-workers at USPS office
A Des Moines post office employee is in custody after she opened fire inside the building Thursday morning, wounding two people, police said.
According to Des Moines television station WOI , people inside the post office called 911 around 9:10 a.m. after the shooting began. Des Moines Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Paul Parizek told WOI that 10 to 12 gunshots were fired on the second floor of the building, an area that was not open to the public.
Three minutes after the 911 calls, officers arrived and entered the building without the support of a tactical team and searched for the shooter. Officers later found the suspect, who was identified as Jennifer Christine Pledger, 39. She was taken into custody at 9:21 a.m. near the post office. There is no immediate word on a motive.
Two women who were shot were taken to a local hospital with injuries reported as non-life-threatening. A man was also taken to the hospital by a police officer after he fell while running away from the shooting.
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WOI reported that schools near the post office and the hospital where the injured people were taken were placed on lockdown, but the lockdowns were later lifted.
Parizek praised the officers and other agencies that responded.
"The response I saw from the cops was exactly what we'd expect," Parizek said, "fast, courageous, moving in there and starting to work that building the way we've trained them to do."
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