zathrus
02-01-2006, 03:01 AM
GOLETA, Calif. - A former postal worker who had been put on medical leave for
psychological problems shot five people to death at a huge mail-processing
center and then killed herself in what was believed to be the nation's deadliest
workplace shooting ever carried out by a woman.
The attack Monday night was also the biggest bloodbath at a U.S. postal
installation since a massacre 20 years ago helped give rise to the term "going
postal."
Investigators would not discuss a motive for the attack.
The rampage - the nation's first deadly postal shooting in nearly eight years -
sent employees running from the sprawling Southern California complex and
prompted authorities to warn nearby residents to stay indoors as they searched
for the killer.
The 44-year-old woman, identified as Jennifer Sanmarco of Grants, N.M., had
not worked at the plant for more than two years but still managed to get inside
the fenced and guarded Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center. She
drove through a gate by following closely behind another car, then got in the
front door by taking an employee's electronic identification badge at gunpoint,
authorities said. The employee was not hurt, authorities said.
She opened fire with a 9 mm handgun, reloading at least once during the
rampage, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said.
Authorities found two people dead outside the plant, blocks from the University
of California, Santa Barbara. Another body was just outside the door, and a
wounded woman was just inside. Three more bodies - including that of the killer
- were farther inside.
The wounded woman, Charlotte Colton, 44, was hospitalized in critical condition.
She had been shot in the head.
All of the killer's victims were believed to be employees at the postal center.
Postal Inspector Randy DeGasperin said the woman had been placed on medical
leave in 2003 for psychological reasons. He said she had been removed from the
building by sheriff's deputies that year for acting strangely. She made no
threats, but other workers were afraid she might hurt herself, authorities said.
DeGasperin said was unclear if she targeted certain people or fired at random,
but "chances are she might have known her victims."
The sheriff said the woman's hair had been cut, and her appearance was
different from when she worked at the plant. Her electronic pass card had been
taken away when she stopped working at the facility, he said.
The woman was well-known to authorities in western New Mexico, where she
moved after leaving her job at the postal center.
In July 2004, she applied for a business license to start a publication called "The
Racist Press," said Terri Gallegos, deputy clerk for the city of Milan, N.M.
When applying for the license, she constantly talked to herself - "not just
mumbling to herself, but real audible, like she was arguing with someone but
there was no one there," Gallegos recalled.
Another time, the woman asked to register a business that made cat food. The
clerk's office filed a complaint with police last spring alleging she harassed a
worker during her visits.
Police in nearby Grants, N.M., gave her a warning last June after receiving
complaints that she was naked at a gas station. She was dressed when officers
arrived.
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston and an
expert on homicides, said Tuesday's death toll might be the highest ever for any
workplace shooting carried out by a woman.
"Men, more than women, tend to view their self-worth by what they do" at
work, Fox said. Men also appear more prone to use violence in seeking revenge
while "women tend to view murder as a last resort," he said.
As the shooting began, some of the 80 or so workers streamed out of the
building. Some ran to a firehouse.
"I was dumping mail on a belt when the gunshots suddenly `boom, boom,
boom, boom!'" said postal worker Alger Busante, 56. He rushed out of the
building.
"It is really very
psychological problems shot five people to death at a huge mail-processing
center and then killed herself in what was believed to be the nation's deadliest
workplace shooting ever carried out by a woman.
The attack Monday night was also the biggest bloodbath at a U.S. postal
installation since a massacre 20 years ago helped give rise to the term "going
postal."
Investigators would not discuss a motive for the attack.
The rampage - the nation's first deadly postal shooting in nearly eight years -
sent employees running from the sprawling Southern California complex and
prompted authorities to warn nearby residents to stay indoors as they searched
for the killer.
The 44-year-old woman, identified as Jennifer Sanmarco of Grants, N.M., had
not worked at the plant for more than two years but still managed to get inside
the fenced and guarded Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center. She
drove through a gate by following closely behind another car, then got in the
front door by taking an employee's electronic identification badge at gunpoint,
authorities said. The employee was not hurt, authorities said.
She opened fire with a 9 mm handgun, reloading at least once during the
rampage, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said.
Authorities found two people dead outside the plant, blocks from the University
of California, Santa Barbara. Another body was just outside the door, and a
wounded woman was just inside. Three more bodies - including that of the killer
- were farther inside.
The wounded woman, Charlotte Colton, 44, was hospitalized in critical condition.
She had been shot in the head.
All of the killer's victims were believed to be employees at the postal center.
Postal Inspector Randy DeGasperin said the woman had been placed on medical
leave in 2003 for psychological reasons. He said she had been removed from the
building by sheriff's deputies that year for acting strangely. She made no
threats, but other workers were afraid she might hurt herself, authorities said.
DeGasperin said was unclear if she targeted certain people or fired at random,
but "chances are she might have known her victims."
The sheriff said the woman's hair had been cut, and her appearance was
different from when she worked at the plant. Her electronic pass card had been
taken away when she stopped working at the facility, he said.
The woman was well-known to authorities in western New Mexico, where she
moved after leaving her job at the postal center.
In July 2004, she applied for a business license to start a publication called "The
Racist Press," said Terri Gallegos, deputy clerk for the city of Milan, N.M.
When applying for the license, she constantly talked to herself - "not just
mumbling to herself, but real audible, like she was arguing with someone but
there was no one there," Gallegos recalled.
Another time, the woman asked to register a business that made cat food. The
clerk's office filed a complaint with police last spring alleging she harassed a
worker during her visits.
Police in nearby Grants, N.M., gave her a warning last June after receiving
complaints that she was naked at a gas station. She was dressed when officers
arrived.
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston and an
expert on homicides, said Tuesday's death toll might be the highest ever for any
workplace shooting carried out by a woman.
"Men, more than women, tend to view their self-worth by what they do" at
work, Fox said. Men also appear more prone to use violence in seeking revenge
while "women tend to view murder as a last resort," he said.
As the shooting began, some of the 80 or so workers streamed out of the
building. Some ran to a firehouse.
"I was dumping mail on a belt when the gunshots suddenly `boom, boom,
boom, boom!'" said postal worker Alger Busante, 56. He rushed out of the
building.
"It is really very