2 women shot by female colleague at Iowa post office in US; 3 injured, suspect held

A female postal employee allegedly shot two of her female colleagues at the main post office in Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, on Thursday before being arrested nearby. She is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, according to police.According to news agency AP, the accused, identified as 39-year-old Jennifer Christine Pledger of West Des Moines, allegedly stood over one of the women after shooting her and fired another round before continuing to shoot as she fled the building, police said.A male employee also sustained injuries after falling while attempting to escape the shooting. Authorities said none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.Des Moines police Sergeant Paul Parizek said all three victims, including women aged 45 and 53 and a 55-year-old man, were taken to hospital. All were reported to be in stable condition.Pledger faces two counts of attempted murder, two counts of willful injury causing serious injury and a charge of intimidation. Attempts by The Associated Press to contact her possible relatives were unsuccessful. Information about whether she had legal representation was not immediately available.The shooting took place on the second floor of the post office, in an area restricted to employees and inaccessible to the public. Witnesses reported hearing between 10 and 12 gunshots, Parizek said.Police received the first emergency calls at around 9:10 am and reached the scene within three minutes. The suspect was apprehended at approximately 9:21 am along a nearby bicycle path without resistance. Officers recovered a 9 mm handgun at the location where she was detained.The post office is situated just north of downtown Des Moines, opposite one of the city's major hospitals.The US postal inspection service said it was investigating the incident in coordination with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.Iowa governor Kim Reynolds said she was in touch with the department of public safety following the shooting.“We are monitoring the situation and our prayers are with everyone involved,” she wrote in an online post, while expressing gratitude for the swift response by law enforcement agencies.Following the incident, Des Moines public schools temporarily restricted entry and exit at a nearby elementary school, welcome centre and nutrition centre. The restrictions were lifted after police confirmed that the suspect had been taken into custody.History of shootings at US postal facilitiesPrevious shootings at postal facilities have prompted the US postal service to examine workplace safety and measures to protect employees.In 1986, a disgruntled postal worker carried out a deadly shooting at a post office in Edmond, Oklahoma, killing 14 colleagues before taking his own life.Five years later, in 1991, a former postal employee who had been dismissed from his job shot dead four former colleagues at a post office in Royal Oak, Michigan, before dying by suicide.Following these and other incidents, postal authorities commissioned a study that was released in 2000 to examine workplace violence. The research was conducted around the time the expression “going postal” was gaining popularity in everyday language.The report recommended measures to identify potential warning signs of violent behaviour. However, it also challenged the perception that postal workplaces were particularly prone to violence, concluding that postal employees were less violent than the wider national workforce.Despite the findings, further attacks have occurred at postal facilities.In 2006, a former postal worker stormed a sorting facility in Goleta, California, and fatally shot six employees before taking his own life.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.