What do you think?
Rate this book
Fifteen Minutes of Terror:Massacre at the Edmond Oklahoma Post Office
Dale Justus was a new employee of the United States Postal Service on July 21, 1986. His new job as a rural mail carrier at the post office in Edmond, Oklahoma, assured him great opportunities for the future. It would be nearly a month later, on August 20, that City Letter Carrier Patrick Henry Sherrill came to work with three guns in his mail bag and used two of them to massacre fourteen of his fellow workers and seriously wound six others before taking his own life. Justuss secure future almost ended after only thirty days on the job.
There have been several accounts of what happened on that blackest day in the history of the postal service. Some accounts have offered incomplete portions of the truth, but most of these were written by those with no personal knowledge of the facts. It has taken twenty-five years for someone to write a thoughtful, factual account about this unspeakable tragedy.
Walk with Justus as he recounts a story that begins years before that fatal day and extends well past the actual event. Experience the terror and unfathomable aftermath with him and the other employees who were at the Edmond Post Office on that fateful day.
There have been several accounts of what happened on that blackest day in the history of the postal service. Some accounts have offered incomplete portions of the truth, but most of these were written by those with no personal knowledge of the facts. It has taken twenty-five years for someone to write a thoughtful, factual account about this unspeakable tragedy.
Walk with Justus as he recounts a story that begins years before that fatal day and extends well past the actual event. Experience the terror and unfathomable aftermath with him and the other employees who were at the Edmond Post Office on that fateful day.
148 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 8, 2011
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 18, 2019
When it comes to "going postal", the Edmond post office shooting is easily the worse case.
It's been claimed that Patrick Sherrill committed the first postal shooting, but there had already been 3 postal shootings, only they were very small attacks with few killed or even injured. Patrick Sherill's massacre is still the worse the Post office has ever had. Despite this, the massacre has never gotten a full treatment and like the rest has largely been forgotten. As criminologist has said "we forget the postal shootings" along with Stockton, Mcdonald's and Luby's. I have several books detailing the massacre, but are mixed in with other cases. This book Fifteen minutes of terror is the only full treatment of the massacre and there are some facts that are new to me. In one of the other books it states that Patrick Sherill was wearing protective glasses during the massacre. Not true, in fact he was wearing black rimmed glasses when he signed in for work that day. Something that is really odd because he never wore that glasses before and didn't during the massacre.
Of course the massacre in the other treatments besides this book are better.
That is mainly due to a professional writer. The author of this book isn't a professional writer.
Before getting this book I knew it was going to be bias in favor of the postal service.
The postal service is known for being protective and just wanting to blame the shooters and go "Abuse? There is no unfair treatment in our company." but it is irrefutable that the post office at this time had an authoritarian system of rule and a serious problem with harassment.
This "I ate dirt for 5 years, now your gonna eat dirt." mentality. Plus the over all job is stressful not just do to abuse by management but due to the excessive repetitive tasks. Even the author admits this even if he does downplay it.
I also read reviews by other victims of the tragedy. Upset that he tries to paint the postal service in a good light and deny some of the bad stuff that happened at the Edmond post office.
A coworker at the post office who apparently was friendly with him told the news reporters "Last week we were in the break room and he says that 'they are gonna be sorry" and I said 'come on Patrick, we know your having trouble with management.' and he says 'oh they will be sorry and everybody will know about it.' What do you think when someone says something like that?"
Another employee who was friendly with Patrick and worked the same postal job as him saw him point the .45 handgun at one victim and shoot them in the back. She with another employee hid in a closet. They heard Patrick reloading the gun, the bullet casings hit the floor, and the screaming of employees as he methodically searched and gunned them down. In one book it said he returned to the same spot to reload several times. Next door to the closet a radio was on and it was playing music through out the massacre. This employee said the music "really bothered me."
The author mentions that the building was really small and over crowded and always full of noise. Mostly from radios playing music and other employees listening to music on their "walkman".
She also said in a documentary that mentions the massacre that Patrick felt pressure over the job and tried to "go faster and faster" and then "I saw the file they had on him" and added "it was like this thick" and indicates with her fingers his complaint and discipline file as incredibly thick. At least 30 or 40 pages thick.
She then encouraged him to call the union and file a report about it. She asked him what happened a few days later and he said " and he got real down and said ' 'yeah, they can't do anything.' and then it's like...he got super depressed...they never stopped being on his back."
After the massacre the "going postal" really took off and more and more employees began shooting up their post office. During the same period they had a number of suicides. Several of the suicides happened at the post office building.
The author tries to downplay this as hype.
Near the end of the book he mentions a flawed study where the post office tried to deny "going postal" that the "going postal" was quote "a myth"
Criminologist James Fox refutes it with logic and basic facts.
"What they didn't distinguish was murders by employees and ex employees vs murders by costumers and clients. But if you look at episodes involving the post service and their employees, then they have a higher rate then general." I've seen this tactic used over and over and over again in flawed studies and statistics. The most obvious is the "school shooting" by pro gun control groups. Where they include gang violence, accidental discharges and campus suicides. Even a shooting that happened a few blocks away from the building is labeled a 'school shooting" When we hear the term 'school shooting" I don't think about gang violence or accidental discharges. i don't think about a shooting happened 20 blocks down the road. I think of Columbine, Pearl, Thurston, Virginia Tech, etc. Same with "gun death" statistics. If you actually do some research you discover that the majority of gun deaths in the U.S are suicides and gang violence and of course that is ignored. So that study showing that "going postal" is a "myth" is obviously flawed and based on a strawman. When we talk about "going postal" we are talking about EMPLOYEES attacking their workplace. They even compare it to miners and robberies. Yeah, a gas station is gonna get robbed more then a post office. Yeah, a lot more miners are gonna be dying on the job....but what about the percentage of EMPLOYEES coming to work and killing people?! Were miners going to work and killing their coworkers at the same rate? What about clerks at gas stations? I didn't see any gas station attendants going to work and shooting up the place. Saw a lot of them getting shot in the face by robbers though. Were there 20 mass shooting at gas stations all around the U.S committed by their employees? I don't think so. I can only name 3 store employees who actually did shoot up their work place. One was in 87 and was just one point during a family massacre, and the others were store clerks. Not the same as a gas station though. So only one I can cite really.
So the whole study is based on a strawman. Strawman "an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument." It is an undeniable fact that the most common place of mass shootings/mass murder is at the workplace and at schools.
The author mentions the medical/autopsy reports. What I find interesting is the fact that 14 people were shot and killed, yet no one was shot in the head. The report also said that Patrick Sherill shot 18 bullets into the victims [not counting the 6 wounded.]...there were 14 victims in all. Which means that there were 4 additional bullets. Which means most of the victims were shot only once.
That is unusual. Most of the victims were shot point blank and in the chest.
The of course goes into the background of Patrick Sherrill, but doesn't give all the details and fails to really paint a really good picture of Patrick Sherrill. It fails to mention his closes friend who said he was the "most unhappy person I know." and was a very lonely person. So the author fails to capture Sherrill fully and of course his depression and loneliness contributed to the massacre. Also fails to really show how the much the job meant to Patrick Sherrill. The author does mention that Patrick Sherrill started out as a mail sorter which is probably one of the worse jobs in the office. Basically you would sit in a chair for hours on end. A machine called the LSM was used for this job. Basically a type writer with a mechanical arm. Employees would have to get up after 3 or 4 hours and wash warm water under their hands due to intense pain. Many employees got carpal tunnel due to this job. I like how one news report phrased it "The LSM is still widely used and workers must compete with it's tiring, mind numbing, relentless rhythm."
The author mentions that Patrick Sherrill was in the marines and mentions that he never actually saw action due to the fact that he was only ever stationed at a military camp. The author names the camp and he joined the camp in 1964 and was discharged in late 1966. Couldn't help but notice the connection to one of my all time favorite cases. Charles Whitman. Charles Whitman was forced to return to active duty after he lost his scholarship they had given him to study at the Texas university. So he had to return back to the camp. The same camp Sherrill was at and had just joined. He began gambling and threatened a fellow marine over a gambling debt. He asked him for the 45 bucks he was owned. The fellow marine said "I owe you 30." and Whitman told him "I want 15 in interest" and said if he didn't pay "I'll knock your teeth in!" he was also charged with owning a unapproved gun on the base. As a result he did hard labor. He was seething with anger and rage. He was a "trouble maker" the opposite of his first tour at the camp. He was finally discharged in 1965 and went on his killing spree in August of 1966. Sherrill got discharged in December of 1966 and went on his killing spree in August of 1986. Both men also tended to shoot their victims once and move on to another target.
So I must ask the question...did Sherrill meet Whitman during his service? Did Sherrill ever find out about Whitman and his killing spree? Was Sherrill inspired by Whitman? Who knows.
Both men were also under extreme stress and basically "came to the breaking point."
The parents of both men also owned their own business.
The author goes through the response of the postal service and some of the employees which is accurate. The postmaster told people to "do that on your own time" In fact after the massacre the postmaster took away coffee and other privileges such as telephone calls. This was right after the massacre. That should tell you something. They also refused to allow people to get counseling on the job or even allowed time off. Again told "do that on your own time."
The author really does try and downplay some of the terrible responses.
Even the postmaster general admitted that "someone dropped the ball" and the response was "insensitive" I know this because I've researched it from multiple sources and seen the video of him admitting it on video. he said they "should of shown" sensitivity. Yet the author says the most "insensitive" postmaster at Edmond was a 'scapegoat."
I'll quote the postermaster general. A quote that is totally missing from the book.
"I have to apologize on behalf of the employees of the postal service who did not show the great amount of sensitivity they SHOULD of shown."
The author also tries to downplay the response to benefit payments. One women had a hard time trying to get the payment and had to go through a bunch of nonsense to get it. The author is basically like "but she was given it." yeah and it took her how long and how much effort?!
Seinfeld had a gag about "going postal" Jason Alexander's character asks another character what their job is and he tells him he works for the post office. Alexander replies "Those the guys who go crazy and always come back with a gun and shoot every body?" The postal worker says "Sometimes." Seinfeld shakes his head and asks "Why is that?" and he replies "because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. There's never a let up, it's relentless. EVERY DAY IT PILES UP MORE AND MORE AND YOU GOT TO GET IT OUT BUT THE MORE YOU GET IT OUT THE MORE KEEPS COMING IN!" His face turns red and Seinfeld and the rest eventually have to calm him down. It's a very funny scene and a very accurate scene.
The author near the end finally talks about WHY Patrick Sherrill decided to shoot and kill 14 of his fellow postal employees. In the chapter talking about who he was it's implied that he had a long history of failure in not just the work force but school as well. He went to college three times and failed each time. Sometimes because his family life got in the way and other times because of poor performance and it gives a list of mistakes he made working at the post office and the author says he should of never gotten hired but was hired purely because of affirmative action; he was a veteran. In fact he got a 5 point bonus on all the tests due to this affirmative action for vets.
One of the complaints and warnings was due to the fact that Sherrill did not interact with the costumers. Later he got a complaint for talking to the costumers for "too long" and he was overheard complaining about how badly the post office was treating him. See the contradiction? I think this might of added to his rage and pressure. I must also ask...how did they know this? Because postal supervisors constantly like to evaluate and watch their employees and mark down every single conceivable mistake they can spot. Sometimes it's "driving too slow" "driving too fast" "gassing up their vehicle too soon." etc. The author even states that his first day on the job he was given a paper and pen and told to write down everything the trainer did. So while he was being trained by this worker he was told to evaluate her.
Why did this happen? The author thinks it happened because the state was expanding more and more which meant more addresses which meant more mail. They didn't have enough employees, the work place was a noisy and "sometimes stressful" place to work. Plus Sherrill should of never been hired.
Based on all of my research including this book. Here is what I think happened. Here is my meta analysis so to speak.
The post office due to president Nixon changed from what it once was. It became a government owned business that became all about profit and proficiency. As one lawyer who tried to push for workers rights and attempted to pass an anti bullying work bill said "The postal service has too rapid of a pace for the work. They are over automated. You can't keep up with the machines and the over distribution centers. You can't keep up with the repetitive tasks; our bodies break down physically. You can't keep up with the repeatedly verbal assault because it tears your soul apart."
So the whole thing began in the 70s due to "I'm not a crook" Nixon. So the whole thing became this stressful overworked employee system. Unions were not allowed to strike. It was forbidden by law. Then in the 80s you had Reagan who pretty much revolutionized the business industry. Made it more callous, more profit driven. Wall street and yuppies became a big thing in the 80s. Excess and materialism became a big thing in the 80s.
A postal employee who investigated the abusive system at the post office said he was a worker since 1975 and notes how it changed.
"You went to work, you went through your mail. You did your route. You did your job. It wasn't until later on in my career that there was this big push for productivity. Not that there wasn't before but it got to increasing even more."
Sherrill was a depressed and lonely middle aged man who had a history of failure, disappointment, and social problems. The typical profile of a mass shooter/mass murderer. He had struggled to keep a job and finally found one at the post office. The post office caused tremendous stress "he was so under stress. Trying to go faster and faster." He probably thought "I am doing the best I can! GET OFF MY BACK!" he was constantly monitored and mistakes were not tolerated.
He delivered the wrong mail and got a warning. I noticed his infractions [in the book] weren't continuos. Not like he was always delivering the wrong mail. His infractions were dfferent each time. "Rude to a costumer at an apartment complex", "failed to deliver mail at mall." I assume wasn't told how to deliver mail to the mall. Finally towards the massacre he asked to be transferred to a new job. He wanted to be a janitor. During this period of waiting to become a janitor he was sat down and "reprimanded"
One of the supervisors threatened that he would be fired if he didn't stop making mistakes. This was the ultimate trigger so he went to work with 3 handguns and murdered 14 coworkers starting with the two supervisors who threatened they would fire him.
The author mentions that eyewitnesses who saw the reprimand said he was threatened that he would be fired but the author dismisses this and makes an excuse. He later does the same with the postmaster. The postmaster was recorded on tape and a transcript was written. The poster master told the employees after the massacre that they better "get back to work" and straighten up because there were "7,000" people waiting for their jobs. The author uses the same exact argument he does for the supervisors "he never said he would fire them." .....it was strongly implied. What else could that of meant?
Sherrill's work is contradictory when it comes to witnesses.
One person said Sherrill was a bad firearms instructor but another said he was very good.
A couple employees said Sherrill was a bad mail man while some others said he was doing "quite well." with the job. Who knows. As one reporter put it "Several of his coworkers were critical of his work while others said he was constantly harassed by his supervisors."
The author mentions that the women who said Sherrill was under stress and was trying to go "faster and faster" ended up on The Geraldo show. I of course have problems with that show even if it was an 80's talk show that is long dead. The author said it's "sad" that she was on the show bad mouthing the postal service. The author said the officials were given a tape of the show and it's obvious they didn't like how the post office was represented. The author wasn't the person who should of written this book. This book should of been written by a 3rd party that was unbias and didn't have an agenda. This reminds me of an old talk show about the sexual harassment that was occurring in WWF [wrestling] where the promoter refused to admit there was sexual harassment. One of the men who was sexually harassed asked him if he was willing to admit that "there is sexual harassment in your work place?" and that it was "running rampant" and he refused. It's very clear that at least a small group of powerful people in the industry were able to sexually harass "ring boys" and wrestlers without any fear of being fired. In fact all they had to do was basically say in code "sleep with me or your fired." and the person would refuse and all of a sudden....those people weren't being asked to be an employee anymore. How weird, uh?
"Just because I won't sleep with your vice president that is reason to blow me off a two year deal?! I don't think so."
I knew it would be bias and try and protect the post office but I wanted more information. Wish it was better told, unbias, and gave a better understanding of Sherrill. Was expecting a lot more information about him.
Originally I gave this book a 3/5, but I changed it to 2/5. The main reason is because it was not as detailed, it was written competently but the author is not a writer. Not all the facts about Sherrill. I was expecting a lot more. The author was too bias and tried to downplay certain facts. I did enjoy it and am glad I got it and for the lowest price. Could of been a lot better and should of been a lot better. Told a lot better with more facts.
It's been claimed that Patrick Sherrill committed the first postal shooting, but there had already been 3 postal shootings, only they were very small attacks with few killed or even injured. Patrick Sherill's massacre is still the worse the Post office has ever had. Despite this, the massacre has never gotten a full treatment and like the rest has largely been forgotten. As criminologist has said "we forget the postal shootings" along with Stockton, Mcdonald's and Luby's. I have several books detailing the massacre, but are mixed in with other cases. This book Fifteen minutes of terror is the only full treatment of the massacre and there are some facts that are new to me. In one of the other books it states that Patrick Sherill was wearing protective glasses during the massacre. Not true, in fact he was wearing black rimmed glasses when he signed in for work that day. Something that is really odd because he never wore that glasses before and didn't during the massacre.
Of course the massacre in the other treatments besides this book are better.
That is mainly due to a professional writer. The author of this book isn't a professional writer.
Before getting this book I knew it was going to be bias in favor of the postal service.
The postal service is known for being protective and just wanting to blame the shooters and go "Abuse? There is no unfair treatment in our company." but it is irrefutable that the post office at this time had an authoritarian system of rule and a serious problem with harassment.
This "I ate dirt for 5 years, now your gonna eat dirt." mentality. Plus the over all job is stressful not just do to abuse by management but due to the excessive repetitive tasks. Even the author admits this even if he does downplay it.
I also read reviews by other victims of the tragedy. Upset that he tries to paint the postal service in a good light and deny some of the bad stuff that happened at the Edmond post office.
A coworker at the post office who apparently was friendly with him told the news reporters "Last week we were in the break room and he says that 'they are gonna be sorry" and I said 'come on Patrick, we know your having trouble with management.' and he says 'oh they will be sorry and everybody will know about it.' What do you think when someone says something like that?"
Another employee who was friendly with Patrick and worked the same postal job as him saw him point the .45 handgun at one victim and shoot them in the back. She with another employee hid in a closet. They heard Patrick reloading the gun, the bullet casings hit the floor, and the screaming of employees as he methodically searched and gunned them down. In one book it said he returned to the same spot to reload several times. Next door to the closet a radio was on and it was playing music through out the massacre. This employee said the music "really bothered me."
The author mentions that the building was really small and over crowded and always full of noise. Mostly from radios playing music and other employees listening to music on their "walkman".
She also said in a documentary that mentions the massacre that Patrick felt pressure over the job and tried to "go faster and faster" and then "I saw the file they had on him" and added "it was like this thick" and indicates with her fingers his complaint and discipline file as incredibly thick. At least 30 or 40 pages thick.
She then encouraged him to call the union and file a report about it. She asked him what happened a few days later and he said " and he got real down and said ' 'yeah, they can't do anything.' and then it's like...he got super depressed...they never stopped being on his back."
After the massacre the "going postal" really took off and more and more employees began shooting up their post office. During the same period they had a number of suicides. Several of the suicides happened at the post office building.
The author tries to downplay this as hype.
Near the end of the book he mentions a flawed study where the post office tried to deny "going postal" that the "going postal" was quote "a myth"
Criminologist James Fox refutes it with logic and basic facts.
"What they didn't distinguish was murders by employees and ex employees vs murders by costumers and clients. But if you look at episodes involving the post service and their employees, then they have a higher rate then general." I've seen this tactic used over and over and over again in flawed studies and statistics. The most obvious is the "school shooting" by pro gun control groups. Where they include gang violence, accidental discharges and campus suicides. Even a shooting that happened a few blocks away from the building is labeled a 'school shooting" When we hear the term 'school shooting" I don't think about gang violence or accidental discharges. i don't think about a shooting happened 20 blocks down the road. I think of Columbine, Pearl, Thurston, Virginia Tech, etc. Same with "gun death" statistics. If you actually do some research you discover that the majority of gun deaths in the U.S are suicides and gang violence and of course that is ignored. So that study showing that "going postal" is a "myth" is obviously flawed and based on a strawman. When we talk about "going postal" we are talking about EMPLOYEES attacking their workplace. They even compare it to miners and robberies. Yeah, a gas station is gonna get robbed more then a post office. Yeah, a lot more miners are gonna be dying on the job....but what about the percentage of EMPLOYEES coming to work and killing people?! Were miners going to work and killing their coworkers at the same rate? What about clerks at gas stations? I didn't see any gas station attendants going to work and shooting up the place. Saw a lot of them getting shot in the face by robbers though. Were there 20 mass shooting at gas stations all around the U.S committed by their employees? I don't think so. I can only name 3 store employees who actually did shoot up their work place. One was in 87 and was just one point during a family massacre, and the others were store clerks. Not the same as a gas station though. So only one I can cite really.
So the whole study is based on a strawman. Strawman "an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument." It is an undeniable fact that the most common place of mass shootings/mass murder is at the workplace and at schools.
The author mentions the medical/autopsy reports. What I find interesting is the fact that 14 people were shot and killed, yet no one was shot in the head. The report also said that Patrick Sherill shot 18 bullets into the victims [not counting the 6 wounded.]...there were 14 victims in all. Which means that there were 4 additional bullets. Which means most of the victims were shot only once.
That is unusual. Most of the victims were shot point blank and in the chest.
The of course goes into the background of Patrick Sherrill, but doesn't give all the details and fails to really paint a really good picture of Patrick Sherrill. It fails to mention his closes friend who said he was the "most unhappy person I know." and was a very lonely person. So the author fails to capture Sherrill fully and of course his depression and loneliness contributed to the massacre. Also fails to really show how the much the job meant to Patrick Sherrill. The author does mention that Patrick Sherrill started out as a mail sorter which is probably one of the worse jobs in the office. Basically you would sit in a chair for hours on end. A machine called the LSM was used for this job. Basically a type writer with a mechanical arm. Employees would have to get up after 3 or 4 hours and wash warm water under their hands due to intense pain. Many employees got carpal tunnel due to this job. I like how one news report phrased it "The LSM is still widely used and workers must compete with it's tiring, mind numbing, relentless rhythm."
The author mentions that Patrick Sherrill was in the marines and mentions that he never actually saw action due to the fact that he was only ever stationed at a military camp. The author names the camp and he joined the camp in 1964 and was discharged in late 1966. Couldn't help but notice the connection to one of my all time favorite cases. Charles Whitman. Charles Whitman was forced to return to active duty after he lost his scholarship they had given him to study at the Texas university. So he had to return back to the camp. The same camp Sherrill was at and had just joined. He began gambling and threatened a fellow marine over a gambling debt. He asked him for the 45 bucks he was owned. The fellow marine said "I owe you 30." and Whitman told him "I want 15 in interest" and said if he didn't pay "I'll knock your teeth in!" he was also charged with owning a unapproved gun on the base. As a result he did hard labor. He was seething with anger and rage. He was a "trouble maker" the opposite of his first tour at the camp. He was finally discharged in 1965 and went on his killing spree in August of 1966. Sherrill got discharged in December of 1966 and went on his killing spree in August of 1986. Both men also tended to shoot their victims once and move on to another target.
So I must ask the question...did Sherrill meet Whitman during his service? Did Sherrill ever find out about Whitman and his killing spree? Was Sherrill inspired by Whitman? Who knows.
Both men were also under extreme stress and basically "came to the breaking point."
The parents of both men also owned their own business.
The author goes through the response of the postal service and some of the employees which is accurate. The postmaster told people to "do that on your own time" In fact after the massacre the postmaster took away coffee and other privileges such as telephone calls. This was right after the massacre. That should tell you something. They also refused to allow people to get counseling on the job or even allowed time off. Again told "do that on your own time."
The author really does try and downplay some of the terrible responses.
Even the postmaster general admitted that "someone dropped the ball" and the response was "insensitive" I know this because I've researched it from multiple sources and seen the video of him admitting it on video. he said they "should of shown" sensitivity. Yet the author says the most "insensitive" postmaster at Edmond was a 'scapegoat."
I'll quote the postermaster general. A quote that is totally missing from the book.
"I have to apologize on behalf of the employees of the postal service who did not show the great amount of sensitivity they SHOULD of shown."
The author also tries to downplay the response to benefit payments. One women had a hard time trying to get the payment and had to go through a bunch of nonsense to get it. The author is basically like "but she was given it." yeah and it took her how long and how much effort?!
Seinfeld had a gag about "going postal" Jason Alexander's character asks another character what their job is and he tells him he works for the post office. Alexander replies "Those the guys who go crazy and always come back with a gun and shoot every body?" The postal worker says "Sometimes." Seinfeld shakes his head and asks "Why is that?" and he replies "because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. There's never a let up, it's relentless. EVERY DAY IT PILES UP MORE AND MORE AND YOU GOT TO GET IT OUT BUT THE MORE YOU GET IT OUT THE MORE KEEPS COMING IN!" His face turns red and Seinfeld and the rest eventually have to calm him down. It's a very funny scene and a very accurate scene.
The author near the end finally talks about WHY Patrick Sherrill decided to shoot and kill 14 of his fellow postal employees. In the chapter talking about who he was it's implied that he had a long history of failure in not just the work force but school as well. He went to college three times and failed each time. Sometimes because his family life got in the way and other times because of poor performance and it gives a list of mistakes he made working at the post office and the author says he should of never gotten hired but was hired purely because of affirmative action; he was a veteran. In fact he got a 5 point bonus on all the tests due to this affirmative action for vets.
One of the complaints and warnings was due to the fact that Sherrill did not interact with the costumers. Later he got a complaint for talking to the costumers for "too long" and he was overheard complaining about how badly the post office was treating him. See the contradiction? I think this might of added to his rage and pressure. I must also ask...how did they know this? Because postal supervisors constantly like to evaluate and watch their employees and mark down every single conceivable mistake they can spot. Sometimes it's "driving too slow" "driving too fast" "gassing up their vehicle too soon." etc. The author even states that his first day on the job he was given a paper and pen and told to write down everything the trainer did. So while he was being trained by this worker he was told to evaluate her.
Why did this happen? The author thinks it happened because the state was expanding more and more which meant more addresses which meant more mail. They didn't have enough employees, the work place was a noisy and "sometimes stressful" place to work. Plus Sherrill should of never been hired.
Based on all of my research including this book. Here is what I think happened. Here is my meta analysis so to speak.
The post office due to president Nixon changed from what it once was. It became a government owned business that became all about profit and proficiency. As one lawyer who tried to push for workers rights and attempted to pass an anti bullying work bill said "The postal service has too rapid of a pace for the work. They are over automated. You can't keep up with the machines and the over distribution centers. You can't keep up with the repetitive tasks; our bodies break down physically. You can't keep up with the repeatedly verbal assault because it tears your soul apart."
So the whole thing began in the 70s due to "I'm not a crook" Nixon. So the whole thing became this stressful overworked employee system. Unions were not allowed to strike. It was forbidden by law. Then in the 80s you had Reagan who pretty much revolutionized the business industry. Made it more callous, more profit driven. Wall street and yuppies became a big thing in the 80s. Excess and materialism became a big thing in the 80s.
A postal employee who investigated the abusive system at the post office said he was a worker since 1975 and notes how it changed.
"You went to work, you went through your mail. You did your route. You did your job. It wasn't until later on in my career that there was this big push for productivity. Not that there wasn't before but it got to increasing even more."
Sherrill was a depressed and lonely middle aged man who had a history of failure, disappointment, and social problems. The typical profile of a mass shooter/mass murderer. He had struggled to keep a job and finally found one at the post office. The post office caused tremendous stress "he was so under stress. Trying to go faster and faster." He probably thought "I am doing the best I can! GET OFF MY BACK!" he was constantly monitored and mistakes were not tolerated.
He delivered the wrong mail and got a warning. I noticed his infractions [in the book] weren't continuos. Not like he was always delivering the wrong mail. His infractions were dfferent each time. "Rude to a costumer at an apartment complex", "failed to deliver mail at mall." I assume wasn't told how to deliver mail to the mall. Finally towards the massacre he asked to be transferred to a new job. He wanted to be a janitor. During this period of waiting to become a janitor he was sat down and "reprimanded"
One of the supervisors threatened that he would be fired if he didn't stop making mistakes. This was the ultimate trigger so he went to work with 3 handguns and murdered 14 coworkers starting with the two supervisors who threatened they would fire him.
The author mentions that eyewitnesses who saw the reprimand said he was threatened that he would be fired but the author dismisses this and makes an excuse. He later does the same with the postmaster. The postmaster was recorded on tape and a transcript was written. The poster master told the employees after the massacre that they better "get back to work" and straighten up because there were "7,000" people waiting for their jobs. The author uses the same exact argument he does for the supervisors "he never said he would fire them." .....it was strongly implied. What else could that of meant?
Sherrill's work is contradictory when it comes to witnesses.
One person said Sherrill was a bad firearms instructor but another said he was very good.
A couple employees said Sherrill was a bad mail man while some others said he was doing "quite well." with the job. Who knows. As one reporter put it "Several of his coworkers were critical of his work while others said he was constantly harassed by his supervisors."
The author mentions that the women who said Sherrill was under stress and was trying to go "faster and faster" ended up on The Geraldo show. I of course have problems with that show even if it was an 80's talk show that is long dead. The author said it's "sad" that she was on the show bad mouthing the postal service. The author said the officials were given a tape of the show and it's obvious they didn't like how the post office was represented. The author wasn't the person who should of written this book. This book should of been written by a 3rd party that was unbias and didn't have an agenda. This reminds me of an old talk show about the sexual harassment that was occurring in WWF [wrestling] where the promoter refused to admit there was sexual harassment. One of the men who was sexually harassed asked him if he was willing to admit that "there is sexual harassment in your work place?" and that it was "running rampant" and he refused. It's very clear that at least a small group of powerful people in the industry were able to sexually harass "ring boys" and wrestlers without any fear of being fired. In fact all they had to do was basically say in code "sleep with me or your fired." and the person would refuse and all of a sudden....those people weren't being asked to be an employee anymore. How weird, uh?
"Just because I won't sleep with your vice president that is reason to blow me off a two year deal?! I don't think so."
I knew it would be bias and try and protect the post office but I wanted more information. Wish it was better told, unbias, and gave a better understanding of Sherrill. Was expecting a lot more information about him.
Originally I gave this book a 3/5, but I changed it to 2/5. The main reason is because it was not as detailed, it was written competently but the author is not a writer. Not all the facts about Sherrill. I was expecting a lot more. The author was too bias and tried to downplay certain facts. I did enjoy it and am glad I got it and for the lowest price. Could of been a lot better and should of been a lot better. Told a lot better with more facts.
September 15, 2022
This book is about the massacre at the Edmond, Oklahoma post office on August 20th, 1986. Dale Justus was a new employee of the United States Post Services. He had been working at the Edmond, Oklahoma post office less than a month when Patrick Sherrill showed up one morning with his mail carrier bag full of weapons (guns) and started making his way through the post office killing 14 employees before turning the gun on himself. Sherrill had a veteran status meaning the postmaster could neither justify in writing why he was not selected or hire him and give him the opportunity to prove he could so it, during the 90 probation period. They made the wrong decision and let Sherrill stay.
October 23, 2019
Very interesting read. A native of the OKC area, I’ve heard that phrase “going postal” many times. I was even familiar with the story as my dad is a letter carrier in the area, and works with a gentleman who was in the Edmond shooting. It was interesting to read an insider view, and learn some of the insider lingo and whatnot. Definitely an interesting read.
June 21, 2014
A fairly in-depth look into the tragedy that occurred at the Edmond Post Office in 1986.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews