On-duty mail carrier fatally shot in West Pullman neighborhood, $250K reward announced
A U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was fatally shot Friday morning in the city’s West Pullman neighborhood, authorities said.
The 48-year-old woman was in front of a home in the 12100 block of South Harvard Avenue when a gunman approached and opened fire, striking her multiple times, around 11:40 a.m., according to Chicago police. The Cook County medical examiner identified her as Octavia Redmond, of the Loop.
Police didn’t identify Redmond as a mail carrier, but a source said the woman was on duty at the time and suffered a gunshot wound to the neck.
Redmond was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where she was pronounced dead, police said. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service posted a message on social media announcing a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the letter carrier’s killer.
Just before 3 p.m., red police tape cordoned off the intersection of South Harvard and East 122nd Street. A group of U.S. postal inspectors stood huddled across the street from a parked mail truck.
Workers from a local anti-violence organization also fanned out on the block, knocking on doors and looking for witnesses.
Outside the Roseland post office at 11033 S. State St., where the victim worked, postal workers hugged one another.
Several neighbors said they spotted a white Dodge Durango with a black strip leaving the scene immediately after the shooting. One resident reported hearing at least 15 shots.
Nearby residents described Redmond as a good-natured and friendly mail carrier.
“She was a really nice lady,” said resident Todd Lindberg, 56. “(She) did her job. She would go out of her way. If a letter came in after she passed your house she’d come back,” he said. “Stuff like this doesn’t happen all that much.”
Neighbor Meda Robinson, 68, enjoyed her interactions with the victim, who often greeted her with a smile and a friendly, “Hey, Grandma.”
Working on his truck near the shooting scene, Calvin Williams, 52, tried to make sense of the sudden violent attack on what appeared to be a calm tree-lined street with large homes at the edge of the city.
Visiting his mother, Williams said he was having coffee, having just backed into the driveway. He then heard several gunshots and heard a woman screaming.
A short time after the shooting, Williams said he saw a second mail carrier speeding up to the scene and heard the man say, “That’s my wife.”
“I can’t imagine what she might have done. You can’t shoot a woman down like that,” Williams said.
Chicago-area mail carriers have voiced concerns for their safety as armed robberies of mail carriers for packages and arrow keys have skyrocketed in recent years.
Police said no arrests had been made in the shooting.
Sitting in a lawn chair in his backyard and smoking a cigar, Lindberg said the sight of Redmond’s body triggered a wave of emotions.
“(I’m) upset, pissed. This shouldn’t have happened. You just got a lady out doing her job.”
