American Notes Murders

Fellow workers called Thomas McIlvane a "time bomb" after he was fired last year from the Royal Oak, Mich., post office for insubordination. "Everybody said if he didn't get his job back, he was going to come in and shoot," postal worker Bob Cibulka said. "Everyone was talking about it." Last week the 31-year-old former Marine proved them right. Armed with a sawed-off .22- cal. Ruger Rimfire rifle, he entered the back sorting room of the 1940s- style office and killed his supervisor and the labor arbitrator who had turned down his appeal for reinstatement. In all, he murdered four and wounded five others, fatally shooting himself in the head. The shooting spree prompted an urgent plea for blood donors throughout metropolitan Detroit.

Royal Oak was the fifth multiple post-office murder in as many years. Last month in Paterson, N.J., an ex-postal employee wielding a sword and gun killed his supervisor and three others. Labor analysts struggled last week to explain why postal workers seem more prone to violence than workers in other high- stress fields, like coal mining or air-traffic control. One possible explanation: budget cuts that have reduced the screening and supervision of workers. Another could be the boot-camp conditions that exist for many workers. Delivering the mail is not necessarily a more dangerous profession than most, just an easier one for unstable workers to enter.