Anthony DeCulit

Parties

• Anthony J. DeCulit (37) — gunman; postal worker.
• Joan Chitwood (55) — supervisor; shot in the right eye.
• Russell Smith (42) — co-worker; shot to death.
• Roderick Patterson — co-worker; treated and released for a bullet wound to the foot.
• Felmers Chaney — president of the local chapter of the N.A.A.C.P.
• Michael Witkowski — co-worker.
• Ida Gillis — postal inspector.
• Patrick Henry Sherrill — referenced in prior shootings.
• Police officer — first police officer on the scene who confronted DeCulit.

Timeline

• about 12:45 A.M. — Shooting started at the city’s main post office during a busy holiday shift. About 1,500 workers were on duty.
• before the shooting — DeCulit had been given a warning letter by supervisor Joan Chitwood after she caught him sleeping on the job; DeCulit had been placed on five months’ probation; he filed a grievance against Chitwood and requested a transfer to another facility for a day shift.
• shortly before midnight — Supervisor Joan Chitwood approached DeCulit to take an inventory ticket from him; DeCulit handed her the ticket with one hand and shot her in the face with a 9mm pistol.
• after the gunfire — Michael Witkowski confronted DeCulit, and DeCulit later turned the gun on himself. A police officer arrived and ordered DeCulit to drop his gun; DeCulit put the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
• Saturday, December 20, 1997 — Death reported as suicide by shooting himself the same day in the New York Times text provided.

The offence

Anthony J. DeCulit was a postal worker who pulled a pistol early during a busy holiday shift at the city’s main post office. As workers ducked for cover and ran to get out, he fired as many as a dozen shots from a 9-millimeter handgun.

Joan Chitwood, the supervisor who had written DeCulit a letter of reprimand for sleeping on the job, was shot in the right eye. She underwent surgery and was expected to live.

Russell Smith, who worked next to DeCulit but was not on speaking terms with him, was shot to death.

Roderick Patterson was treated and released at a hospital for a bullet wound to the foot received while fleeing the room.

DeCulit shot himself after being confronted by a police officer and after asking a co-worker to call his wife.

Investigation

Investigators did not know how DeCulit got the gun into the building. Postal inspector Ida Gillis said the office planned to deploy postal police in uniforms at the facility until a security review was done.

Arrest

No arrest is described; DeCulit died by suicide.

Trial

No trial information is described.

Sentencing

No sentencing information is described.

Appeals

No appeals information is described.

Outcome

DeCulit killed himself at the scene after shooting his supervisor, killing a co-worker, and wounding another co-worker.

Joan Chitwood underwent surgery and was expected to live.

Russell Smith was shot to death.

Roderick Patterson was treated and released.

Aftermath

Felmers Chaney, president of the local chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., said at a news conference that racial discrimination might have played a part in setting off DeCulit. Chaney said the gunman was black and his three victims were white.

Chaney said he had warned postal officials about the problem and gave the following quotations:

• Chaney said: "I told them, 'You're going to have a shooting here,' "
• Chaney said: "Now, I feel like telling them, 'I told you so.' "

Chaney said the N.A.A.C.P. had received more than 80 complaints from Milwaukee postal workers over the past eight years. Chaney also referenced a federal court suit involving four former postal supervisors, all black, who contended they had been demoted after writing a letter complaining of racial harassment by a white supervisor and other problems. The letter described there was "a ton of pent-up hostility ready to explode." The suit contended that soon after the letter was received, the four complainants were demoted and told that their letter was seen as threatening.

In the reporting included, DeCulit had been disappointed after applying for a daytime job at a branch station. A co-worker, Michael Witkowski, said DeCulit was given the job only to have it taken away after a week or two because a mistake had been made, and the job was given to an employee with more seniority.

Witkowski’s quotations were included:

• Witkowski said: "I said, 'Tony, you don't want to do this!' "
• Witkowski said: "He turned to me and said, 'Mike, you don't want to be here.' "
• Witkowski said: "I begged Mr. DeCulit to allow him to take the dying Mr. Smith from the room and that the gunman waved his gun in assent as he paced about."
• Witkowski said: "I asked Mr. DeCulit to think about his wife and a newborn child."
• Witkowski said: "I said,'Tony, you got a wife, a brand new baby, Christmas is right around the corner and in five days we'll be off...You don't want to do this,"
• Witkowski said: "He was standing there pointing the gun at me,"
• Witkowski said: "He said, 'Mike, you don't want to be here.'"
• Witkowski said: "And I told him, 'Tony don't do this.'"
• Witkowski said: "He said, 'Mike, you don't want to be here.' And I told him, 'Tony don't do this.'"
• Witkowski said: "He blew his brains out,"
• Witkowski said: "I don't get it."
• Witkowski said: "He put the gun in his mouth,"
• Witkowski said: "But he blew his brains out."

DeCulit asked Witkowski to call his wife and gave him the phone number. Witkowski said he wrote the number down on a piece of mail. Seconds later, DeCulit turned the gun on himself. Witkowski said: "He blew his brains out," and: "I don't get it."

The reporting also stated that a police officer who had been dropping off letter at a mailbox in the building arrived at the scene and confronted DeCulit and told him to drop his gun. DeCulit put the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

The reporting stated there had been several shootings by postal employees. The worst incident was referenced as August 1986, when Patrick Henry Sherrill, a letter carrier in Edmond, Okla., killed 14 colleagues and himself. It also referenced a September incident in Miami Beach in which a postal clerk shot his former wife and her friend as they stood in line at a post office, then killed himself; the women survived.

The reporting stated that the Postal Service worked to improve training of supervisors and identification of problem employees.

Other details

• DeCulit’s shift was from 10 P.M. to 6:30 A.M.
• The gunman was black; the three victims were white.
• The reporting included that DeCulit and Russell "Dan" Smith (42) had several disagreements and disliked each other so much they did not speak on the job.
• The reporting stated that DeCulit warned co-workers during his overnight shift in a mail sorting room in Milwaukee to stay away from him because "something bad might happen."
• The reporting stated that the job was turned down after he was denied a transfer to a day shift.
• One wounded co-worker was described as Rodrick Patterson (44) in one part of the reporting, and as Roderick Patterson in another; he was treated and released for a gunshot wound to the foot.