Edmond Post Office Shooting Remembered 40 Years Later

Edmond Post Office Shooting Remembered 40 Years Later

Forty years after the Edmond Post Office shooting, the community is once again displaying yellow ribbons and gathering to remember the 14 postal workers killed on Aug. 20, 1986.

The shooting at the downtown Edmond Post Office left 14 people dead and six others wounded in less than 15 minutes. Today, the tragedy remains one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history and a defining moment in Edmond's history.

Across Edmond, yellow ribbons have returned to trees, lampposts and mailboxes as the city marks the 40th anniversary and remembers the victims rather than the man responsible for their deaths.

Edmond Post Office Shooting Changed a Community

Shortly after 7 a.m. on Aug. 20, 1986, part-time postal carrier Patrick Sherrill entered the Edmond Post Office on North Broadway and began shooting coworkers.

About 100 postal employees were inside the facility at the time. By the time the attack ended, 14 postal workers had been killed and six others injured. Sherrill died by suicide as police entered the building.

The victims were Patricia Ann Chambers, Judy Stephens Denney, Richard C. Esser Jr., Patricia A. Gabbard, Jonna Ruth Gragert, Patty Jean Husband, Betty Ann Jarred, William F. Miller, Kenneth W. Morey, Leroy Orrin Phillips, Jerry Ralph Pyle, Paul Michael Rockne, Thomas Wade Shader Jr. and Patti Lou Welch.

At the time, the Oklahoma Historical Society says the attack was the largest mass murder by a single individual in Oklahoma history and the third-largest in the nation. Oklahoma Historical Society's history of the Edmond Post Office massacre

The tragedy also became closely associated with the phrase "going postal," a term that entered American culture following a series of violent incidents involving postal workers. For Edmond, however, the anniversary has remained focused on the victims, their families and the community's response.

Yellow Ribbons Return 40 Years Later

In the days following the shooting, yellow ribbons appeared throughout Edmond as a symbol of mourning and support for postal employees and their families.

Four decades later, those ribbons are appearing again.

The symbol also became a permanent part of the memorial outside the downtown post office at 200 N. Broadway.

The Yellow Ribbon Memorial, created by Oklahoma sculptor Richard Muno, features a bronze man and woman holding a yellow ribbon. The memorial was dedicated in 1989 and includes 14 water jets representing the 14 people who were killed, along with a plaque bearing their names.

The return of the ribbons for the 40th anniversary connects Edmond residents who remember the shooting firsthand with generations who were not yet born when it happened.

The tragedy remains part of the city's historical record. The Edmond History Museum has preserved photographs, artifacts and other materials documenting Edmond's history, including how the community responded to the 1986 shooting.

Edmond Gathers to Remember the Victims

A public remembrance ceremony is being held today at the Edmond History Museum, 431 S. Boulevard, as residents, postal workers and community members mark four decades since the tragedy.

The anniversary is not simply about remembering what happened inside the post office. It is also about remembering the people who went to work that morning and never returned home.

The City of Edmond describes the attack as one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history and the deadliest shooting by a lone gunman in Oklahoma history.

For residents who lived through Aug. 20, 1986, the yellow ribbons remain a familiar reminder of how Edmond responded when its community was devastated.

For those who came later, they provide a visible connection to a tragedy that changed the city forever.

Today, 40 years after the Edmond Post Office shooting, the ribbons are again tied throughout the community with a simple purpose: to remember the 14 lives lost and the families, coworkers and survivors whose lives were forever changed.

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