© WXIN/CNNAngela Summers
The president of the local mail carriers union in Indianapolis says Angela Summers was shot after a person inside a home she delivers mail to had not received their stimulus check, according to WXIN.
Tony Cushingberry, 21, was charged Wednesday with "second-degree murder, assaulting a federal employee and discharging a firearm during a crime, according to court documents filed Wednesday," the Indianapolis Star reported.
"Anyone who threatens, assaults, or otherwise harms a postal employee fulfilling her critical mission will be apprehended and held fully accountable," Detroit Division Acting Inspector in Charge Felicia George said in a news release.
Summers, 45, was shot while delivering mail Monday afternoon in Indianapolis, according to the Indianapolis Star. During the confrontation, Summers sprayed Cushingberry with mace before he shot her, the Star reported.
A neighbor told the Star he heard "angry words" and then "the pop of gunfire." She died at a local hospital, the federal postal inspection service said.
"She couldn't speak, she was hyperventilating," Alondra Salazar told the Star. "I think she said something about her kid and that's when I started crying."
© Indianapolis Police Department, via Associated Press
"The dog is a nasty devil that I've actually had to spray — twice," Summers wrote in a Facebook post two days before the shooting. She added that mail at the residence, which included two stimulus checks, was halted until they sign a letter about keeping their dog away while she making her deliveries.
The local Indianapolis union of the National Association of Letter Carriers wrote in a Facebook post that Summers was "shot by a customer who was upset over his mail being held at the post office for a dog issue."
Paul Toms, the president of the union, confirmed to WXIN the details about the stimulus checks being held.
"I want something like this to never happen again," he said.
Neither the postal service or postal inspection service have confirmed details of the fatal shooting.
In a statement to RTV6, the USPS offered their thoughts and sympathies to the friends and family of Summers, who was employed by the postal service since 2018.
Summers was a board member for her church, WXIN reported. A friend said Summers loved the people on her route.
"She worried about the older people on her route during this time," Melissa Hardy told WXIN. "She always carried treats, and she would give the dogs treats on her route."
The National Association of Letter Carriers said in a statement Summers "had her whole life ahead of her."
"She was dedicated to her customers as a letter carrier, and to her co-workers as a union representative," the union stated. "She served them both well. The senseless nature of her death breaks our hearts."
Reader Comments
What a polite way of saying Summers was whacked by a meth addict waiting for his stimulant funding as it was being withheld by the post office due to repeated issues with the meth addicts girlfriend.
Either that or the local Indianapolis union of the National Association of Letter Carrier’s reall does believe the customer is always right.
Such an intelligent retort! (Sarcasm - just in case you needed that pointed out to you...)
If I was an American, I’d take the George Carlin route and not vote at all. But I’m not an American I’m glad to say, I think the majority of the Americans are a pleasant set, but I would be to ashamed of what the government has done to the world. My government sucks as well, just not as much.
Just saying