Postal Worker Shoots Two Colleagues at Des Moines Post Office; Third Hurt Fleeing

A postal worker shot two colleagues at the main post office in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday morning, and a third employee was injured while trying to escape, police said. All three were taken to hospital in a stable condition, and the suspect was arrested within 11 minutes of the first emergency calls.

The shooting was reported at about 9:10 a.m. local time at the United States Postal Service facility at 1165 Second Avenue, just north of downtown Des Moines. Des Moines police Sergeant Paul Parizek said the gunfire happened on the building’s second floor, in an area that is not open to the public.

The two people who were shot are women aged 45 and 53. A 55-year-old man was hurt in a fall as he fled. Police said none of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening. “They’re all at the hospital. They are being cared for right now,” Parizek said.

Eleven minutes from first call to arrest

Officers reached the scene within three minutes of the first calls, Parizek said, and the suspect was detained at 9:21 a.m., about 11 minutes after the shooting was reported. Witnesses reported hearing 10 to 12 shots.

The suspect, a 39-year-old female employee of the postal facility, was detained along a nearby bike path, under the Interstate 235 bridge east of the post office, after witnesses pointed her out. Police said she was taken into custody without resistance, and a 9 mm handgun was recovered where she was detained.

Two of the injured employees drove themselves to MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, across the street from the post office. A police officer transported the third person to hospital.

What police have — and have not — said

Police have not publicly identified the suspect, and they have not announced any charges or a motive. Parizek said investigators did not yet know what led up to the shooting, and the suspect’s name was being withheld while the investigation continued.

The Associated Press reported that the suspect was a female postal worker and that the two people shot were fellow female employees. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said it was investigating the shooting with local, state and federal partners, and added that “there is no ongoing risk to the public”.

The investigation is being led by the Des Moines Police Department’s crimes against persons unit, with help from the Postal Inspection Service. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in the initial response, according to local reports.

A facility at the heart of the city’s mail

The building at 1165 Second Avenue is the city’s main post office, a processing and distribution centre for the Postal Service that also houses a public service counter. It stands across the street from MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, one of the city’s main hospitals.

The shooting briefly disrupted the area around it. Des Moines Public Schools restricted entry and exit at a nearby elementary school, its welcome centre and its nutrition centre after police notified the district at 9:20 a.m. The restrictions were lifted at about 10:00 a.m., once police confirmed the suspect was in custody.

Second Avenue reopened at about 10:45 a.m., but the post office itself remained closed late on Thursday morning. Police had not said when it would reopen, or how mail processing and delivery would be affected.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said she was in contact with the Department of Public Safety about the shooting. “The suspected shooter is in custody and the investigation is ongoing,” she said.

The investigation now

The shooting is the latest attack on public workers to draw a rapid police response this week, following the fatal shooting of a Spokane County deputy in Washington. It also follows the capture of escaped Tennessee murderer Jacob Morley in Missouri after a nine-day manhunt, a case in which officers likewise moved on information from the public.

Workplace shootings remain a stubborn feature of American life even as overall violence has eased: a Justice Department survey found violent crime fell by 25% in 2025, though that measure excludes simple assault and uses a redesigned survey instrument.

For Des Moines, the immediate questions are narrower: when the suspect will be named and charged, what investigators establish about a motive, and when the main post office will reopen. Police said the investigation was continuing and asked anyone with information to come forward. This is a developing story, and details may change as more information is released.