Just over a year ago, Oklahomans commemorated the 30th anniversary of the horrific Edmond post office shooting that occurred on August 20, 1986. It was, at that time, the state’s largest and the nation’s third-largest mass murder committed by a single individual in a single incident.

Patrick Sherrill was a part-time letter carrier for the downtown Edmond post office before he opened fire on his fellow co-workers on the morning of August 20, 1986.

KOCO 5 News/Youtube Sherrill was a disgruntled postal worker who had received multiple complaints from his managers in the weeks leading up to the incident. He claimed he was being mistreated and quoted to his Union worker, “I gotta get out of here.” But instead of quitting his job, he showed up to work with a different agenda.

At 7 a.m. on August 20, Sherrill walked into the postal office, dressed in his blue uniform, carrying his mailbag and three pistols.

KOCO 5 News/Youtube He sought out specific co-workers and managers and gunned them down. He bolted the doors closed and walked to different stations shooting as many people as he could.

A few short minutes after Sherrill opened fire the police arrived to the scene. They tried communicating with him for 45 minutes, but received no response.

KOCO 5 News/Youtube The Edmond SWAT team finally made their way into the building, only to find multiple deaths, including Sherrill.

Before taking his own life, Sherrill shot 20 people, killing 14 of them.

okhistory.org At the time, it was the third worst mass murder in U.S. history.

In 1989 the city of Edmond and the U.S. Postal Service built a memorial outside the post office’s main entry dedicated to the victims of the shooting.

Public Domain/Wikipedia The Yellow Ribbon Memorial is a bronze statue of a man and a woman standing atop the fountain’s center base and holding the ribbon of the bow attached to the base. The fountain also has 14 jets in memory of each life lost that day.

The memorial also features a plaque on the front of the base listing the victim’s names.

KOCO 5 News/Youtube The memorial was built by sculptor Richard Muno and still stands today outside the downtown Edmond post office.

Watch the video below as a mail carrier relives the Edmond post office massacre 30 years later:

KOCO 5 News/Youtube

Sherrill was a disgruntled postal worker who had received multiple complaints from his managers in the weeks leading up to the incident. He claimed he was being mistreated and quoted to his Union worker, “I gotta get out of here.” But instead of quitting his job, he showed up to work with a different agenda.

He sought out specific co-workers and managers and gunned them down. He bolted the doors closed and walked to different stations shooting as many people as he could.

The Edmond SWAT team finally made their way into the building, only to find multiple deaths, including Sherrill.

okhistory.org

At the time, it was the third worst mass murder in U.S. history.

Public Domain/Wikipedia

The Yellow Ribbon Memorial is a bronze statue of a man and a woman standing atop the fountain’s center base and holding the ribbon of the bow attached to the base. The fountain also has 14 jets in memory of each life lost that day.

The memorial was built by sculptor Richard Muno and still stands today outside the downtown Edmond post office.



Our hearts go out to everyone that was affected by this horrible tragedy. If you visit the memorial outside the Edmond post office and need a place to eat while in town, check out this great sandwich shop that was named one of the best in the country.

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