Iowa postal worker faces attempted murder charges after shooting two co-workers
Jennifer Pledger shot at the Des Moines main post office on Thursday, with officers capturing her within eleven minutes of the first call.
By Peter Graham ·
Ten to twelve shots rang out inside the main post office in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday morning, leaving two women shot and a man injured in a fall.
Jennifer Christine Pledger, a 39-year-old postal worker from West Des Moines, was captured nearby and now faces two counts of attempted murder. Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said the shooting occurred on the second floor, an area not open to the public. Witnesses reported hearing the gunfire as Pledger moved through the space.
Police described the sequence of events as Pledger standing over one of the female victims and firing again before leaving the building. A 55-year-old male employee was hurt when he fell while trying to escape the scene. All three victims, who are aged 45, 53, and 55, were transported to a hospital across the street from the post office and listed in stable condition. Parizek noted that none of the injuries appeared life-threatening.
Officers arrived at the scene just three minutes after calls began coming in around 9:10 a.m. They located Pledger without resistance on a bike path near the facility at 9:21 a.m. A 9 mm handgun was recovered at her detention site. Parizek stated that Pledger is also charged with two counts of willful injury causing serious injury and intimidation.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating the incident in coordination with local, state, and federal law enforcement. Governor Kim Reynolds said she is in contact with the Department of Public Safety and described the situation as monitored while law enforcement responded immediately. The main post office is located just north of downtown Des Moines.
Des Moines Public Schools temporarily restricted entry and exit at a nearby elementary school, welcome center, and nutrition center following the shooting. Those restrictions were lifted after police confirmed the suspect was in custody. Past incidents at postal facilities, including deadly rampages in Oklahoma in 1986 and Michigan in 1991, have led officials to study workplace violence within the service.
A 2000 report commissioned by postal officials examined these events and concluded that postal employees are generally less violent than the national workforce, despite the cultural term associated with such incidents. Additional attacks, such as a 2006 shooting in California where six workers were killed, have continued to shape safety protocols for postal employees nationwide.
