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Terrible News, Hours of Tension, Then Relief
Burrus Update #24-2009, Dec. 31, 2009
At nearly 5 p.m. on Dec. 23, I heard the terrible news that an armed man was barricaded inside the Wytheville, VA, Post Office, and holding hostages. I immediately contacted high-level postal officials to request that I be provided with updates as events unfolded in southwestern Virginia. At the time of my initial inquiry, USPS executives were unaware of the situation, but they promised to investigate and keep me informed.
Later that evening, I received a phone call that confirmed news broadcasts, and learned that the armed aggressor was not a postal employee. While I remained concerned about the safety of the hostages, I was relieved that the media would be denied the opportunity to reprise their campaign stereotyping postal employees as violent.
A series of troubling events involving postal employees over a period of years resulted in a media catch-phrase of "going postal" to mean "acting violently." The characterization was a disservice to the 650,000 postal employees whose dedication and service bind our nation together.
No evidence has ever shown that postal employees are more likely to be violent than the citizenry at large. The horrific events that have been so widely publicized were always found to be the result of deranged individuals who would have carried out their acts of terror no matter where they were employed.
So, while my concern for the safety of the hostages was not satisfied for 12 hours, I was relieved that we would not be forced to suffer through another round of attacks on the character of postal employees.
APWU extends to the postal supervisor and the three customers who were held hostage our happiness that the incident ended without injury or loss of life. To the law enforcement officials who negotiated, we extend thanks for a job well done. And to any members of the news media who feel they have been denied an opportunity to disparage postal employees, I offer a well-deserved “shame.”
William Burrus
President
