INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — After IMPD made an arrest in the murder of mail carrier Angela Summers, 45, the president of the local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers revealed Summers expressed concerns about certain people living at the house where the union president said the fatal shooting occurred.
IMPD arrested 21-year-old Tony Cushingberry in connection to the fatal shooting of the mail carrier at a home on the 400 block of Denny Street on the city’s east side.
Paul Toms, president of NALC Branch 39, said the union believes this is over the person inside the home not receiving their stimulus check from her deliveries.
“The mail had been curtailed from what I was told very recently,” Toms explained. “On April 12 or 13, the curtailment of mail letter was sent to them.”
This letter came after several dog notes left by Summers, urging the owners of a small dog to keep it away from Summers while she delivered mail.
“Yes, there was a history on this for quite a while, as I understand it,” Toms explained. “Dog letters had been sent. That’s a form to the patron when a dog is a nuisance or a danger or vicious. Three dog letters, one to warn them, a second one a second warning, and then a curtailment of mail. That’s what they had proceeded to there.”
On Saturday, two days before she was killed, a Facebook post on Summers’ page details concerns over the dog at a house on her route. She stated she had a stimulus check for the person living there. But, this is an ongoing investigation and IMPD has not confirmed any details about what led to the shooting.
“I want something like this to never happen again,” Toms said. “It should never happen.”
The charges against Cushingberry are pending United States Attorney’s Office. That agency is reviewing the case because killing a federal employee on duty is a federal charge that could come with a life sentence.
The United States Postal Service released this statement Wednesday:
We are saddened to learn of such a tragic death of one of our own employees and coworkers. Angela Summers was a City Carrier Assistant at the Indianapolis Post Office, Linwood Station, having started with the Postal Service on 06/23/2018. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to her family and friends, including the many people she worked with at the Postal Service. Employee assistance services are being offered to the family and co-workers. No additional information is available.
