(The Center Square) – Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, is pledging to do all he can to slow an ongoing trend that has seen at least 140 Chicago postal workers attacked while on the job over the last year.
In the latest incident, longtime city letter carrier Octavia Redmond was gunned down July 19 in the West Pullman neighborhood by a man wearing a ski mask as she went door to door. Authorities said the assailant fired at least eight shots at Redmond before fleeing in a waiting vehicle.
“Like me, the members of [National Association of Letter Carriers] are outraged by this senseless act of violence that took an innocent woman’s life,” NALC President Brian Renfroe said in a statement. “For far too long, violent crime against letter carriers has been on the rise. Shockingly, now it is not uncommon for letter carriers to be targeted, assaulted, and even murdered. This is completely unacceptable, and we need immediate change.”
Ford said he’s in talks with members of Congress on how to address the trend.