A female postal employee shot two colleagues at the main post office in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday before being captured nearby, authorities said. A third employee was injured in a fall while trying to escape.
None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening, according to police. The victims, two women and a man, were all in stable condition at the hospital. The shooting occurred on the facility's second floor, in an area not accessible to the public.
Police began receiving calls about the shooting around 9:10 a.m. local time, and officers responded within three minutes. The suspect was detained without resistance along a nearby bike path at 9:21 a.m. Authorities have not yet identified the alleged shooter.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating the incident alongside local, state, and federal law enforcement. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds stated she was in contact with the Department of Public Safety and monitoring the situation.
Des Moines Public Schools temporarily implemented a lockout at nearby facilities, barring entry or exit due to the shooting, but these restrictions were lifted after the suspect was taken into custody.
Past shootings at postal facilities have led the Postal Service to examine employee safety measures. A 1986 rampage in Edmond, Oklahoma, where a postal worker killed 14 colleagues before taking his own life, prompted studies into workplace violence. A report released in 2000 concluded that the term "going postal" was a myth and that postal employees were statistically less violent than the general workforce.