I'm sure most of you heard of this by now...


Ex-Postal Employee Kills Six, Then Herself

By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer


GOLETA, Calif. - A female ex-postal worker opened fire at a mail processing plant, killing six people and critically wounding another before committing suicide, authorities said early Tuesday.

Deputies responding to a report of shots fired about 9:15 p.m. Monday found two people dead outside the plant.

Two wounded women were located inside and were taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. One died and the other was listed in critical condition early Tuesday with a gunshot wound to the head.

Nearly five hours later, deputies found four additional bodies, including one believed to be the female shooter, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said. The shooter, who was not identified, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, he said.

"We do not believe there is any additional threat to the community," Anderson said.

It was one of the deadliest shootings in a Postal Service facility since a series of high-profile cases in the mid '80s and early '90s, including one in which a part-time letter carrier killed 14 people in Edmond, Okla., and then took his own life.

The Monday night rampage sent dozens of employees running from the sprawling distribution center and prompted authorities to warn nearby residents to stay indoors.

Postal employee Charles Kronick told KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara that he was inside the building when shots rang out. Some 50 to 60 employees were seen running from the plant.

"I heard something that sounded like a pop, and then I heard a couple seconds later, another pop, pop, pop," Kronick said.

His boss came running over and told him to get out of the building, Kronick said, adding "We all hightailed it out real quick."

Many workers fled to a fire station across the street, said Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Keith Cullom.

The victims' names were not immediately released. Sheriffs' Sgt. Erik Raney said all the victims were believed to be current employees.

Investigators didn't yet know how many guns were used, how the shooter entered the complex or what the motive might have been, Raney said.

Postmaster General John E. Potter said families of the victims were being notified and counselors would be available to the families and employees at the plant.

"Our heartfelt prayers and condolences go out to the families of the victims and to our employees who have suffered through this tragic incident," Potter said in a statement issued in Washington.

The 200,000-square-foot facility is located just a few blocks from the University of California, Santa Barbara. About 300 people are employed at the plant in Goleta, about 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Associated Press reporter Christina Almeida in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Obviously a hoax.  With California's strong gun control, this sort of thing is impossible.  That's why we have no crime here.

I can imagine she knew the routine wearing her old uniform to get in.  Like to hear more about what went down.

Sad, someone's dad, mom, or relative didn't come home last night.

To me this would not be too unusual.  I have a friend who is now retired that worked in the City of Industry mail processing plant and he couldn't wait to get home at the end of the day because of the "caliber" of people that works for the PO.  But I'm afraid this shooting doesn't conform to the typical stereo-type of a disgruntled male shooter, so the reporting by the news meida is subdued and low-key, ie they are strictly reporting this story as news with little of the usual bravado and hype.

cold blooded.  people going on shooting rampages deserve to burn in hell for a long long time.  hinking.gif

Sounds like that cold blooded bitch was an accurate shooter, wonder where she crawled out of.  Only non fatal injury (yet) was still a head shot.  If it were a kid or an ex marine, we'd already have a picture of the shooter and the standard, "they seemed so nice"

I just wish she had jumped off a bridge b4 going back to her FORMER work.  NO GUNS INVOLVED, and if you are wanna  die anyway, why screw up everyone elses day?  

it's definietly sad news to see this.

i reacted teh same way as the poster above me....that she was a very accurate shooter.  She reloaded once.  I dont' think a trained person could be that accurate......

Whats with letter carriers going postal?
Is this some sort of true stereotype, or just hype?
Is working for the USPS that stressful?

How efficient, criminals are now free to kill as many as they want to without fear of the public being armed. I love it.

Quoted: How efficient, criminals are now free to kill as many as they want to without fear of the public being armed. I love it.

Well, at least at Postal facilities.  Not allowed to bring any firearms onto the premises.

I guess she didn't get the memo.

more details on the crazy b*tch...



Calif postal killer may have shot neighbor, sixth worker dies
By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, February 1, 2006


(02-01) 14:30 PST GOLETA, Calif. (AP) --

Investigators tracking the path of an ex-postal worker who carried out a deadly assault on a mail-sorting facility believe a former neighbor found slain at a condominium may have been the first victim of the suicidal rampage, authorities said Wednesday.

Authorities here and in New Mexico described past bizarre behavior by Jennifer Sanmarco, and an ex-colleague said she was prone to racist remarks, but her motive remained a mystery as the death of a woman wounded at the mail facility raised the number of slain postal workers to six. The neighbor would be Sanmarco's seventh victim.

Postal employee Charlotte Colton, 44, of Santa Barbara, died Wednesday morning, said Teresa Rounds, spokeswoman for Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Colton was shot in the head Monday night as Sanmarco, 44, fired a handgun at workers in a parking lot and inside the Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center.

Investigators said Sanmarco reloaded at least once and ended the carnage by killing herself. It was unclear where she obtained the 9 mm pistol, Santa Barbara County sheriff's Sgt. Erik Raney said.

Sanmarco left no suicide note.

However, acquaintances said Sanmarco sometimes talked to herself and spewed racist comments. In New Mexico, where she moved in 2004, she once tried to start a publication called "The Racist Press" but didn't qualify for a business license, authorities said.

All of the dead were minorities, an acquaintance said.

Sanmarco may have killed the former neighbor shortly before the 8:59 p.m. attack. A gunshot was reported at about 8:20 p.m. Monday at a Santa Barbara condominium complex where Sanmarco lived several years ago, Raney said.

A woman identified by relatives as Beverly Graham, 54, was found dead in her condo Tuesday. She had been shot in the head.

"We are investigating it as being the beginning of this rampage," Raney said.

The two women used to argue because Sanmarco would sing loudly outside of her condo, said Eddie Blomfield, Graham's boyfriend.

Graham's brother, Les Graham, said his sister had complained about a woman who "used to come out and rant and rave in front of her building."

Sanmarco's reputation for bizarre behavior ended her postal career. She worked at the mail sorting plant for nearly six years but left in June 2003.

She was granted early retirement on a medical disability because of psychological problems, the U.S. Postal Service said.

"She went through all the requisite screenings. There were no prior indications" of problems, said Keith Blackman, a media consultant to the Postal Service.

Sanmarco never threatened other employees and apparently the only concerns were for the woman's own safety, Blackman said.

"She seemed to be having conversations and there wasn't anyone around her. She'd be just jabbering away," recalled former plant worker Jeff Tabala. "It was pretty unsettling."

Tabala said that in 2003 he saw sheriff's deputies pull Sanmarco out from under a mail-sorting machine and wheel her away in handcuffs on a mail cart after a disturbance.

She returned several months later but "people started coming to me and saying, 'she's acting erratically,"' Tabala said. "She was screaming, she was saying a lot of racist comments. It was pretty ugly."

She seemed specifically hostile to Asians, he said.

She was escorted out of the building by management and never returned, Tabala said.

Tabala, who knew the victims, said three of the dead were black, one was Chinese-American, one was Hispanic and one was Filipino.

In addition to Colton, the dead were Ze Fairchild, 37, and Maleka Higgins, 28, both of Santa Barbara; Nicola Grant, 42, and Guadalupe Swartz, 52, both of Lompoc; and Dexter Shannon, 57, of Oxnard.

After moving to New Mexico, Sanmarco lived in an isolated desert home but had run-ins with local officials.

"We weren't sure what she was going to do next," said Terri Gallegos, deputy clerk for the city of Milan. In 2004, she said, Sanmarco applied for a business license for a publication called "The Racist Press" that she said she planned to launch. Another time she said she wanted to register a cat food business.

During one meeting, Gallegos said, Sanmarco carried on a conversation with herself "like she was arguing with someone but there was no one there."

Last March, office workers called authorities after the woman made what Gallegos described as a rude allegation. Other times, Gallegos said, Sanmarco would come in and simply stare at one employee in particular.

In June, police in nearby Grants, N.M., talked to her after someone at a gas station called to complain of nudity, Police Chief Marty Vigil said. Sanmarco was dressed when officers arrived.

It was unclear when she returned to California.

Tabala said Sanmarco was close with an employee at the Goleta mail facility, Kevin Whittemore, 53, who died Jan. 21 of an apparent heart attack. However, she was not among employees who attended a beach memorial service Saturday, Tabala said.


Associated Press Writers Christina Almeida in Los Angeles and Sue Major Holmes in Albuquerque, N.M., contributed to this story.