Police have uncovered that an Indianapolis postal worker may have been fatally shot by a man anxiously awaiting his stimulus check.
Union officials told WTHR, an NBC news affiliate in Indianapolis, that Angela Summers was to deliver two long-awaited federal stimulus checks to a home in the city, but she was not able to after a dog deterred her. She was shot to death Monday while on that route.
Federal postal inspectors have determined, after interviewing witnesses, that the suspect in her death, Tony Cushingberry, 21, may have shot and killed Summers due to the checks not being delivered. They were back at the crime scene Wednesday night, interviewing possible witnesses and looking for more evidence.
Postal inspectors, FBI agents and Indianapolis homicide detectives arrested Cushingberry in connection with the fatal shooting of Summers.
“We are very excited it was taken care of in an expeditious manner,” said Paul A. Toms, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
According to witnesses, an ongoing dispute had been stirring with a resident at a home on North Denny Street. The issue stemmed from a menacing dog, according to Toms. Two letters had been sent to the dog’s owner about the interference it was causing.
“So a third letter went out, your mail will be curtailed until you correct it,” he said.
Summers, according to postal regulations, could not deliver mail to the house, but she did have to walk near the house to deliver mail to neighboring homes.
“She was not going to tell him, ‘I’m not going to deliver your mail,’ ” Toms said. “They came out and confronted her, and that escalated to her death.”
Toms confirmed two federal stimulus checks were in the mail that was never delivered.
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