A United States Postal Service worker was being stalked by her estranged boyfriend days before she was fatally shot in the head at her job, witnesses told Channel 2 Action News.
Tyrika Terrell, 22, had been with USPS no more than a month before she was killed outside her job Monday night, U.S. Postal Service Atlanta Field Office spokesman Clifton Bell told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Terrell gave birth less than a year ago to a child witnesses said she shared with the man, Channel 2 reported.
Authorities have not named the boyfriend as a suspect in the investigation.
The shooting occurred in the parking lot of the Wesley Chapel Post Office in Decatur, Bell said. Terrell, who worked as a city carrier assistant, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“USPS is of course devastated by what happened,” Bell said. “The postal service offers its condolences, thoughts and prayers to her family.”
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Bell said USPS is “working any leads (we) have.” The DeKalb County Police Department is also investigating.
Witnesses told Channel 2 they heard four rounds coming from the loading dock of the post office around the time of the shooting.
A witness also said he saw the suspect sitting at a Coin Laundry just before the shooting. Police hope cameras from that laundromat can help them identify the shooter.
A woman inside the Coin Laundry said she saw the suspect, but initially didn’t suspect anything since he was “calm, cool and collected,” Channel 2 reported.
“I noticed it was something because he kept peeping out the window like he was looking for something or somebody,” she said.
The witness said once he spotted Terrell, the suspect turned the corner and opened fire.
Anyone with information is asked to call 1-877-876-2455 and ask to speak to an Atlanta USPS inspector.
— Staff writer Lauren Foreman contributed to this article.
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