9/9/2015
Going postal ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Going postal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Going postal (disambiguation).
Going postal, in American English slang, means becoming
extremely and uncontrollably angry, often to the point of violence,
and usually in a workplace environment.
The expression derives from a series of incidents from 1986 onward
in which United States Postal Service (USPS) workers shot and
killed managers, fellow workers, and members of the police or
general public in acts of mass murder. Between 1986 and 1997,
more than 40 people were gunned down by current or former
employees in at least 20 incidents of workplace rage.
Contents
1 Origin
2 Notable postal shootings
2.1 Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986
2.2 Ridgewood, New Jersey in 1991
2.3 Royal Oak, Michigan in 1991
2.4 Double event in 1993
2.5 Goleta, California, in 2006
2.6 Baker City, Oregon, in 2006
3 Analysis
4 Cultural impact
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Memorial of the 1986 post office
incident in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Origin
The earliest known citation is December 17, 1993 in the St. Petersburg Times:
“
The symposium was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, which has seen so many
outbursts that in some circles excessive stress is known as 'going postal.' Thirty­five people
have been killed in 11 post office shootings since 1983. The USPS does not approve of the
term "going postal" and has made attempts to stop people from using the saying. Some
postal workers, however, feel it has earned its place appropriately.[1]
”
December 31, 1993 in Los Angeles Times:
“
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal
”
1/6
9/9/2015
“
Going postal ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unlike the more deadly mass shootings around the nation, which have lent a new term to the
language, referring to shooting up the office as "going postal".[2]
”
Notable postal shootings
Main article: List of postal killings
Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986
On August 20, 1986, 14 employees were shot and killed and six wounded at the Edmond, Oklahoma, post
office by Patrick Sherrill, a postman who then committed suicide with a shot to the forehead.[3]
Ridgewood, New Jersey in 1991
A former United States postal worker, Joseph M. Harris, killed his former supervisor, Carol Ott, and killed
her boyfriend, Cornelius Kasten Jr., at their home. The following morning, on October 10, 1991, Harris shot
and killed two mail handlers, Joseph M. VanderPaauw, 59, of Prospect Park, N.J., and Donald McNaught,
63, of Pompton Lakes, N.J. at the Ridgewood, New Jersey Post Office.[4][5]
Royal Oak, Michigan in 1991
On November 14, 1991 in Royal Oak, Michigan,
Thomas McIlvane killed five people, including himself,
with a Ruger 10/22 rifle in Royal Oak's post office,
after being fired from the Postal Service for
"insubordination." He had been previously suspended
for getting into altercations with postal customers on his
route.[6]
Double event in 1993
Two shootings took place on the same day, May 6,
1993, a few hours apart. At a post office in Dearborn,
Michigan, Lawrence Jasion wounded three and killed
one, and subsequently killed himself. In Dana Point,
California, Mark Richard Hilbun killed his mother, then
shot two postal workers dead.[7]
The U.S. post office in Royal Oak
As a result of these two shootings, in 1993 the Postal Service created 85 Workplace Environment Analysts
for domicile at its 85 postal districts. These new positions were created to help with violence prevention and
workplace improvement. In February 2009, the Postal Service unilaterally eliminated these positions as part
of its downsizing efforts.[8]
Goleta, California, in 2006
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal
2/6
9/9/2015
Going postal ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jennifer San Marco, a former postal employee, killed six postal employees before committing suicide with
a handgun, on the evening of January 30, 2006, at a large postal processing facility in Goleta, California.[9]
Police later also identified a seventh victim dead in a condominium complex in Goleta where San Marco
once lived.[10]
According to media reports, the Postal Service had forced San Marco to retire in 2003 because of her
worsening mental problems. Her choice of victims may have also been racially motivated; San Marco had a
previous history of racial prejudice, and tried to obtain a business license for a newspaper of her own ideas,
called The Racist Press, in New Mexico.
This incident is believed to be the deadliest workplace shooting ever carried out in the United States by a
woman.[11][12]
Baker City, Oregon, in 2006
Grant Gallaher, a letter carrier in Baker City, Oregon, pleaded guilty to the April 4, 2006 murder of his
supervisor.[13] He reportedly brought his .357 Magnum revolver to the city post office with the intention of
killing his postmaster. Arriving at the parking lot, he reportedly ran over his supervisor several times.
Subsequently he went into the post office looking for his postmaster. Not finding the postmaster, he went
back out to the parking lot and shot his supervisor several times at close range, ostensibly to make sure she
was dead. He then reportedly fired several more bullets into the supervisor's car.
Grant Gallaher reportedly was on a new route for three weeks and had felt pressured by a week­long work­
time study and an extra 20 minutes added to his new route. On the day of his rampage, he reportedly was
ahead of schedule on his route and his supervisor brought him more mail to deliver. He allegedly decided to
take the matter up with his postmaster on his cell phone and then went home to get his .357 Magnum
revolver to exact his revenge. The work climate had reportedly improved from what it was in 1998, the year
a 53­year­old union steward at the Baker City post office committed suicide.
Analysis
Researchers have found that the homicide rates at postal facilities were lower than at other workplaces. In
major industries, the highest rate of 2.1 homicides per 100,000 workers per year was in retail. The next
highest rate of 1.66 was in public administration, which includes police officers. The homicide rate for
postal workers was 1.48 per 100,000.[14]
However, not all murders on the job are directly comparable to "going postal". Taxi drivers, for example,
are much more likely to be murdered by passengers than by their peers. Working in retail means one is
exposed to store robberies. In 1993, the United States Congress conducted a joint hearing to review the
violence in the U.S. Postal Service. In the hearing, it was noted that despite the postal service accounting
for less than 1% of the full­time civilian labor force, 13% of workplace homicides were committed at postal
facilities by current or former employees.[15]
Cultural impact
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal
3/6
9/9/2015
Going postal ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the controversial video game series Postal the player takes on a first­person role performing normally
mundane chores (such as picking up a paycheck from work) with an often gratuitously violent twist. In
1997, the United States Postal Service (USPS) sued the creators of the game, Running With Scissors Inc.,
over the use of the term "postal". Running With Scissors argued that, despite its title, the game has
absolutely nothing to do with the Post Office or its employees. The case was dismissed with prejudice in
2003.[16]
The 1995 film Clueless is credited with popularizing the phrase "going postal" and is responsible for the
term's casual usage still today.[17] The actors in the film had no idea what it meant to "go postal" as it was
then an uncommon phrase in the mainstream.[18]
See also
2010 Panama City school board shootings
Amok
Fragging
List of postal killings
List of massacres
Postal – a video game series
Road rage
Spree killer
List of rampage killers (workplace killings)
School shooting
Son of Sam ­ A serial killer (rather than spree killer as is this article's primary focus) who worked for
the postal service
References
1. Vick, Karl, "Violence at work tied to loss of esteem", St. Petersburg Times, Dec 17, 1993
2. "The Year in Review 1993", Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1993
3. "On August 20, 1986, a part­time letter carrier named Patrick H. Sherrill, facing possible dismissal after a
troubled work history" (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PLP/is_2_35/ai_n17209169). The Journal of
Employee Assistance. 2005. Retrieved 2007­09­12.
4. Hanley, Robert (October 11, 1991). "4 Slain in 2 New Jersey Attacks And Former Postal Clerk Is Held"
(http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/11/nyregion/4­slain­in­2­new­jersey­attacks­and­former­postal­clerk­is­
held.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm). The New York Times.
5. "A former postal worker commits mass murder." (http://www.history.com/this­day­in­history/a­former­postal­
worker­commits­mass­murder). The History Channel website. 2010. Retrieved 2010­11­11.
6. Levin, Doron P. (November 15, 1991). "Ex­Postal Worker Kills 3 and Wounds 6 in Michigan"
(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE3D6163BF936A25752C1A967958260). The
New York Times. Retrieved 2008­02­26.
7. Gregory K. Moffatt, Blind­Sided: Homicide Where It Is Least Expected, at 37 (2000).
8. Musacco, Stephen (2009). Beyond going postal: Shifting from workplace tragedies and toxic workplace
environments to a safe and healthy organization. Booksurge. p. 34. "the notion of 'going postal' as a myth is not
supported by the overwhelming evidence to the contrary"
9. Holusha, John; Archibold, Randal C. (2006­02­01). "Ex­Employee Kills 6 Others and Herself at California
Postal Plant" (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/national/01postal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin). The New York
Times. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal
4/6
9/9/2015
Going postal ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
10. "Death Toll in Calif. Postal Shooting Rises: Calif. Sheriff's Deputies Say Woman Accused in Post Office
Killings May Have Also Shot Her Former Neighbor" (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1565649). ABC
News.
11. "Seven dead in California postal shooting" (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/31/postal.shooting). CNN. 2006­01­
31.
12. "US ex­postal employee kills six" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4665790.stm). BBC News. 2006­
01­31. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
13. "Gallaher Sentenced in Baker County Circuit Court" (http://news.google.com/newspapers?
id=aeA4AAAAIBAJ&sjid=vhQGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1870,1355376&dq=grant­gallaher&hl=en). Hells Canyon
Journal. August 16, 2006. p. 3. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
14. Permanent.access.gpo.gov (http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps12068/33994.pdf)
15. Musacco, 2009
16. Calvert, Justin. "Postal court case dismissed" (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/postal­court­case­
dismissed/1100­6030580/). Retrieved 25 June 2003.
17. Skeels, Virginia. "The cast of Clueless reunites" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article­2213701/The­
cast­Clueless­reunites­remembering­Brittany­Murphy.html). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
18. Lang, Nico. "25 Little­Known Facts About Clueless" (http://thoughtcatalog.com/nico­lang/2012/11/25­little­
known­facts­about­clueless/). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
Further reading
Beyond Going Postal by Stephen Musacco, which examines the paramilitary, authoritarian postal
culture and its relationship to toxic workplace environments and postal tragedies. (ISBN 1­439220­
75­1)
Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion by Mark Ames, which examines the rise of office and
school shootings in the wake of the Reagan Revolution, and compares the shootings to slave
rebellions (ISBN 1­932360­82­4)
Going Postal by Don Lasseter, which examines the issue of workplace shootings inside the USPS
(ISBN 0­7860­0439­8)
The Tainted Eagle by Charlie Withers, a union steward in the Royal Oaks Post Office at the time of
the shootings in Royal Oaks, Michigan. (ISBN 1­436396­41­7)
Lone Wolf by Pan Pantziarka, a comprehensive study of the spree killer phenomenon, and looks in
detail at a number of cases in the U.S., UK and Australia. (ISBN 0­7535­0437­5)
Bob Dart, "'Going postal' is a bad rap for mail carriers, study finds" (http://nl.newsbank.com/nl­
search/we/Archives?
s_hidethis=no&p_product=AASB&p_theme=aasb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring
='Going%20postal'%20is%20a%20bad%20rap&p_field_advanced­0=&p_text_advanced­0=
('Going%20postal'%20is%20a%20bad%20rap)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_d
ate:D&xcal_useweights=no), Austin American­Statesman, September 2, 2000, p. A28
External links
Postal Work Unfairly Maligned, Study Says
Look up go postal in
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/01/us/postal­work­
Wiktionary, the free
unfairly­maligned­study­says.html), September 1, 2000
dictionary.
Aug. 20, 1986: Just an ordinary day
(http://www.enidnews.com/opinion/local_story_232005852.html?keyword=topstory), August 19,
2006
Copycat Effect (http://hammernews.com/copycateffect.htm)­ review of Coleman's book on tendency
of publicity about mass deaths to provoke more with section on postal shootings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal
5/6
9/9/2015
Going postal ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gun advocate website listing 1986–1997 incidents (http://hematite.com/dragon/usps.html)
2000 Report of the United States Postal Service Commission on a Safe and Secure Workplace
(http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps12068/33994.pdf) (Report that called "going postal" 'a myth')
Atlanta Journal­Constitution about the report's release
(http://www.psycport.com/2000/09/01/A/31440992­0076­Home.html)
Open Letter to the United States Congress outlining the critical need for reform of the authoritarian
postal culture via Congressional intervention and legislation. (Musacco, 2009)
(http://www.postalreporter.com/chapter­11­beyond­going­postal.pdf). (Chapter 11 of book Beyond
Going Postal (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1439220751) Note: In chapter 4: fallacies, omissions, and
inaccurate conclusions in the 2000 Report of the United States Service Commission on a Safe and
Secure Workplace were examined, especially the conclusion that "going postal was a myth, a bad
rap".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Going_postal&oldid=673364147"
Categories: Rampages English phrases Mass murder Postal system Government American slang
1980s slang 1990s slang 2000s slang American English idioms
This page was last modified on 27 July 2015, at 21:04.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution­ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a
registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non­profit organization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal
6/6