Police say evidence indicates one of the wounded colleagues was targeted
A postal worker charged with shooting and wounding two female colleagues inside a Des Moines regional mail sorting center made her first court appearance Friday, as authorities investigated whether one of the victims was targeted.
Jennifer Christine Pledger, 39, of West Des Moines, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of willful injury causing serious injury and intimidation, according to court records. She is being held without bond. Police said she fired at her coworkers Thursday, then stood above one of the women she had shot and fired again, and kept shooting as she left the post office just north of downtown Des Moines.
The two wounded women, ages 45 and 53, had multiple gunshot wounds, according to court records. Both are expected to recover. A 55-year-old male employee was hurt in a fall while trying to escape.
“We believe the evidence indicates that one of the victims was targeted,” Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said Friday, adding that the assessment is based on the suspect’s actions and that investigators need to learn more to confirm it.
Police Chief Michael McTaggart said Friday that officers were on scene within one minute of 911 calls but not immediately on the radio, an update to the initial timeline that officers were there within three minutes. Police said officers quickly spread out once they learned Pledger’s name and the direction she went, and she was detained minutes later on a bike trail.
“Had we not known that the person had left the building, we would have dedicated a lot of our resources to perimeter security and clearing that building,” Parizek said.
Pledger was detained without resistance, and a 9 mm handgun was recovered, according to police. The gun had no more live ammunition inside, but she had another loaded magazine, court records show.
At the initial court appearance Friday, a judge approved Pledger’s application for appointment of counsel, according to court records. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach possible relatives Thursday were unsuccessful, and the Polk County Public Defender’s office declined comment.
Parizek said a search warrant was executed Thursday at a home believed to be Pledger’s residence.
More than 200 employees work at the regional sorting facility, which has a walk-in service counter accessible to the public. The shooting happened on the facility’s second floor, in an area not accessible to the public.
“Everyone has the right to feel safe in their workplace without fear from coworkers, customers or others,” Margaret Greene, acting assistant inspector in charge with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said Friday.