Postal Workers Fear for Safety after Mail Carrier Shot on Route

Milwaukee, WI (WorkersCompensation.com) – Postal workers in Milwaukee say they are concerned about their own safety after a letter carrier was shot and killed on his route Friday.

Officials with the United States Postal Inspection Service said Aundre Cross, 44, was killed while he was delivering mail on December 9. Cross had worked as a mail carrier for 18 years.

"If you had a bad morning, he could come in loud, joyful, change your whole mood. Forget what you were even upset about," said Cross' friend and coworker, Jyfena Brown, "He was a good person. Had three beautiful kids, a wife. Imagine how they feel, two weeks before Christmas."

Surveillance video near where Cross was shot shows Cross getting shot, and then a suspect running toward a car that appears to be a silver Audi Q5 SUV with tinted windows.

The U.S. Postal Service has announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects involved in Cross’s death.

Milwaukee police reported 205 homicides in the city, higher than the two previous years.

"The shooting death of a Milwaukee postal worker is alarming," Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement Friday. "My thoughts are with the victim's family and colleagues."

Cross’s murder has postal workers on edge.

"Being a carrier in Milwaukee is very scary now. And you are alone on the route. It's just literally you and the mail," Brown told WISN.

Tia R., a woman who identified herself as one of Cross’s co-workers, told the Milwaukee Journal. Long days leaving some postal workers out after dark are a cause for concern, she said. Cross was shot around 6 p.m. after the sun had already set.

"We've been working longer hours and mail volume has increased," Tia told the Milwaukee Journal. "I know the post office wants to be efficient, but I had to separate myself. I know a few other people who have left for similar reasons. We shouldn't be out there when it's dark; it's not safe."

The National Association of Letter Carriers condemned the attack. In a statement, the union said such attacks cannot be tolerated. 

“Brother Cross was dutifully performing his job when this senseless act of violence took his life,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “On behalf of NALC, we are heartbroken by this tragedy and send our deepest sympathies to his family and colleagues. ...The growing number of crimes against letter carriers, such as this, are deeply concerning, unacceptable, and must be stopped. No letter carrier should be fearful while on the job. The safety of our members is our top priority, and we are committed to working with the Postal Service, law enforcement and legislators on solutions that will protect our members.”

Postal employees across the country have been subjects of violence this year.

On Thursday, three mail carriers were robbed at gunpoint in Newark, N.J. Each of the robberies occurred in different locations. Mail carriers and outdoor collection boxes have been targeted across the country RLS News Service said.

A letter carrier in Maryland was robbed at gunpoint, and postal carriers in Cincinnati were held at gunpoint for their ‘arrow keys’, universal keys that open collection boxes and cluster boxes where mail is stored by carriers.

"The biggest variable enticing these criminals to steal are customers depositing mail into blue collection boxes after the last collection of the day or during Sundays and federal holidays," the Postal Service said in a release.

In October, woman in Chicago was arrested after she attacked a postal worker inside of a post office, pushing her to the ground and grabbing the worker by the hair.

And a man was arrested in Chicago for sexually assaulting a postal worker in her vehicle. Authorities said Cesar Ramirez, 44, was charged with two counts of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery of a government employee, unlawful restraint and vehicular hijacking when he climbed into a postal vehicle at a gas station. When the postal carrier went into the gas station, Ramirez hid inside the vehicle, attacking the letter carriers when she got back into it.

Ramirez told the letter carrier to drive to a nearby parking lot where he ordered her to remove her clothes. The letter carrier was able to flee the truck, and was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for abrasions.

And in April, postal officials said delivery could resume in one California neighborhood after it was stopped because of attacks of postal carriers.

The USPS said delivery on the route in Santa Monica would continue to be reviewed to ensure employees are able to deliver the mail safely.

Incidents in January, February and April left three mail carriers attacked by residents in the neighborhood – one with a broom leaving the postal carrier with injuries to their arm,

In 2020, the USPS Postal Inspection Service said it had responded to more than 7,000 reports of violent crimes against postal employees including assaults and homicides.

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