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Postal Worker Held In Fatal Shooting ‘Quiet’ Man Who Cared For Stray Cats Suspected In Killing Of Supervisor

Los Angeles Times

A “quiet, unassuming” 22-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, known in his neighborhood as the “Cat Man” because he cared for so many strays, reportedly shot and killed his supervisor early Sunday at a 24-hour mail-processing facility, authorities said.

Bruce William Clark, 58, was disarmed by fellow employees and held for sheriff’s deputies after he allegedly shot James Whooper III, 50, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy Jim Hellmold.

Shortly before the 2:30 a.m. shooting in the City of Industry east of downtown Los Angeles, Clark, a distribution clerk, had argued with Whooper, a mail-processing supervisor, and punched him in the back of the head, deputies said.

As Whooper went to report the incident to a superior, Clark left the room and returned with a paper bag. When Whooper asked Clark what was in the bag, Clark opened it, pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and fired twice, striking Whooper in the upper body and face, Hellmold said.

Whooper, who had transferred to the Industry postal facility 2 1/2 months ago, died at the scene. Clark was being held without bail for investigation of murder at the sheriff’s Industry station.

Stunned postal officials were at a loss to explain the shooting, the latest in a series of attacks that have made homicide the second-leading cause of death on the job for postal employees.

“I’ve asked the question ‘Why?’ and I do not have that answer,” said Thomas Wilson, manager of the City of Industry facility. “I really need an answer, but right now, it’s a total unknown.”

He described Clark as a “very quiet, unassuming gentleman who reported to work on time every day” and had no record of disciplinary problems. Whooper, Wilson said, “had no history of conflict with other employees. In fact, he was a very soft-spoken man known as a progressive-style manager.”

Postal employee Richard Medina described both men as quiet and said he was surprised by the shooting. Sunday’s events, he said, do not make him worry about his own safety - “I’ve been in a lot of tough situations” - but “I am concerned about my wife who also works here.”

But Robert Mosqueda, who has worked 11 years for the Postal Service, said he is “a little nervous, but I have a job to do. Hopefully, we’ll get over this, but it will take a long time.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Recent postal attacks March 21, 1995 - Christopher Green, 29, a former postal worker burdened with “a mountain of debt” kills four people and wounds another during a holdup at the Montclair, N.J., post office. Nov. 14, 1991 - Fired postal worker Thomas McIlvane kills four supervisors and wounds five employees at his former post office in Royal Oak, Mich., then kills himself. Oct. 10, 1991 - Joseph M. Harris, a fired postal worker, kills a former supervisor and her boyfriend at their home, then goes to the Ridgewood, N.J., post office and kills two mail handlers. He surrenders after a 4-hour standoff. Aug. 10, 1989 - Postal worker John Merlin Taylor shoots and kills his wife at their home, then drives to the Orange Glen, Calif., post office, where he shoots and kills two colleagues and wounds another before killing himself. Aug. 20, 1986 - Patrick Henry Sherrill, a part-time letter carrier in Edmond, Okla., kills 14 people in the post office there before taking his own life. Sherrill, who had a history of work problems, faced the possibility of being fired. Associated Press

This sidebar appeared with the story: Recent postal attacks March 21, 1995 - Christopher Green, 29, a former postal worker burdened with “a mountain of debt” kills four people and wounds another during a holdup at the Montclair, N.J., post office. Nov. 14, 1991 - Fired postal worker Thomas McIlvane kills four supervisors and wounds five employees at his former post office in Royal Oak, Mich., then kills himself. Oct. 10, 1991 - Joseph M. Harris, a fired postal worker, kills a former supervisor and her boyfriend at their home, then goes to the Ridgewood, N.J., post office and kills two mail handlers. He surrenders after a 4-hour standoff. Aug. 10, 1989 - Postal worker John Merlin Taylor shoots and kills his wife at their home, then drives to the Orange Glen, Calif., post office, where he shoots and kills two colleagues and wounds another before killing himself. Aug. 20, 1986 - Patrick Henry Sherrill, a part-time letter carrier in Edmond, Okla., kills 14 people in the post office there before taking his own life. Sherrill, who had a history of work problems, faced the possibility of being fired. Associated Press