EDMOND, Okla. -- A mailman on the verge of being fired for poor job performance reported to work with three pistols Wednesday, locked the doors and went to the supervisors' area, where he opened fire, killing 14 people, then committed suicide as police stormed the building.
At least seven people were injured in the post office rampage -- the third-worst mass murder by a single gunman in U.S. history.
Patrick Sherrill, 44, described as an expert marksman while in the Marine Corps, was found dead in the employees' section of the post office. Near him were his empty .45-caliber, .22-caliber and 9mm pistols, which he had brought to work in his mailbag.
Authorities late Wednesday confirmed that Sherrill had checked out one of the weapons from his Oklahoma Air National Guard Unit on Tuesday.
Sherrill went through the employees' entrance about 7 a.m., locking the doors behind him before he started roaming the building, firing and reloading.
All the victims appeared to be postal employees. One was killed in the parking lot and 13 bodies were found throughout the building in work areas and break rooms. Some of the victims apparently had been chased and others, including supervisor Rick Esser, had been shot at point-blank range, police and witnesses said.
'A lot of them were just gathered up in a booth,' District Attorney Bob Macy said of the carnage inside the U.S. Postal Service building in the suburb of 34,600 people north of Oklahoma City. 'When he came in, they (workers and customers) scattered like flies.'
'He (Sherrill) was just pointing and shooting all around,' said Orson Cordis of Guthrie, a letter carrier who saw the shooting start.
Cordis said Sherrill never talked during the incident.
'I just thought it was firecrackers going off,' said Vince Furlong, 32, another postal employee. 'I hid and then I saw him (Sherrill) chasing a guy with a hole in his back and I saw Sherill run by with a gun in his hand.'
Sherrill had been in trouble because of his poor job performance and had been told Tuesday that he would be fired from the part-time job unless he improved, Macy said.
'I knew him,' Furlong said. 'I didn't know him well. Nobody did, I don't think. He was a loner. He just didn't know how to carry mail. He just couldn't get a handle on it. They chewed him out yesterday.'
Sherrill was holed up in the building for two hours before police made their assault. Negotiatiors had tried to contact him by telephone but could not get an answer.
Only one shot was fired after police arrived, and Police Lt. Ron Cavin said that might have been Sherrill killing himself.
Cavin said officers 'had no choice' but to rush the downtown building about 9 a.m. because they had no idea how many people remained inside and how many had been injured. The police did not fire a shot, Macy said.
Sherrill's post office papers indicated he was a Vietnam veteran, but the Pentagon said he was not in the war and apparently lied to postal officials. Macy said Sherrill was considered 'an expert marksman' with a .45-caliber pistol, one of three weapons found at his side.
The killings were the third-worst shooting spree in U.S. history and the largest since July 18, 1984, when James O. Huberty opened fire at the bordertown McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif., killing 21 people.
In 1966, 16 people were killed and 31 wounded in a rifle barrage from a University of Texas tower in Austin by Charles J. Whitman.
Huberty and Whitman both were killed by police.
About 80 to 90 workers were in the building when Sherrill opened fire, a city official said.
Furlong said he dived to the floor when the shooting started.
'I saw one of my friends hit the ground and I saw another one of my friends run by with a bullet hole in his side -- blood coming out his back,' he said.
'He just started shooting people. He shot the supervisor almost point-blank. He shot one of my best friends almost point-blank. And then he just turned around and started spraying the room.'
He said most employees were hiding throughout the ordeal, 'trying to find out where he was.'
'I just heard gunshots,' said Mike McMonigle, another postal employee who escaped injury in the shootingspree. 'I thought it was a joke at first.'
Besides Esser, police identified the victims as Betty Jarred, Patty Husband, Tom Shader, Mike Rockney, Patty Gabard, Johna Gragert Hamilton, Patti Welch, Judy Denney, Patty Chambers, Kenneth Morey, Bill Miller, Lee Phillips and Jerry Pyle.
Six people were injured by gunfire and a seventh was treated for a minor injury and released. Five of the gunshot victims remained hospitalized, one of them in critical condition.
Macy said the number of shell casings found in the building by police indicates Sherrill probably reloaded the weapons several times.
Police tactical teams quickly sealed the busy downtown area shortly after receiving word of the shootings. Officers were fearful Sherrill might gain access to the roof of the one-story building and open fire on rush-hour traffic.
Macy said officers knew wounded people were inside and three employees who had locked themselves in a vault and escaped injury also were discovered by officers.
One of the hiding workers, Cheryl Sherrill, who is no relation to the gunman, said she heard the screams of the dying.
'I heard someone holler, 'This is for real, get down,'' she saidd.
About 50 family members, survivors and friends gathered at the Edmond City Hall to await word on whether loved ones had been among the victims.
At the post office, relatives were called in from a makeshift waiting room, one by one, to identify the bodies. Anguished cries could be heard coming from the room and one woman was sedated and taken away in an ambulance.
Sherrill's neighbors and co-workers described him as a 'loner' who rarely socialized. 'You'd have to say 'hello' to him before he would say 'hello' to you,' one said.
Anabelle Cartmill, who works across the street from the post office and visits it twice a day, said the slayings stunned the town.
'It's unbelieveable,' she said. 'Our town used to be such a nice little town.'
