MIAMI – The U.S. Postal Inspection Service passed out fliers Tuesday in the neighborhood where a mail carrier was gunned down Monday afternoon.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, 60-year-old Bruce Parton was delivering mail to the Monte Carlo Condominiums when a gunman approached him and shot him twice.
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Rescuers took Parton to Jackson Memorial Hospital, but he later died.
Flier: $25,000 Reward
"The subject of this shooting took the victim's postal truck," said Rosanna Cordero-Stutz, of the Miami-Dade Police Department. "(The subject) then traveled a short distance away, where he abandoned the vehicle."
Parton's supervisor showed up at the scene Monday afternoon and broke into tears. All she would say is that he was an excellent worker.
Miami-Dade police, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating the shooting. Although dozens of officers searched the area, no arrests have been made.
The gunman is described as a heavy-set man who is between 6 feet and 6 feet 4 inches tall. He has dreadlocks, and on Monday, he wore black clothes and a hooded sweatshirt with a design on it.
Investigators said the abandoned postal truck did still contain some mail and packages, and they are doing an inventory to determine whether anything was stolen.
Police have not released information about a motive for the shooting.
Parton, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, spent the last 10 years on the route based from the Norland Branch. He leaves behind two children.
At a Tuesday afternoon news conference announcing a $25,000 reward for information, Enrique Gutierrez, the postal inspector in charge, said everyone is taking this personally.
"It rattles you right to your bone," Gutierrez said. "You don't quite recover from this. It goes beyond anything operational. It is literally like you are losing a family member."
Connie Davis, Parton's ex-wife, had nothing but kind words for him.
"It's very sad," Davis said. "It's just horrible -- especially someone like him. He was so caring and so sweet and friends with everybody. He would give you the shirt off his back."
Davis, a former mail carrier, said she met and fell in love with Parton at work. She has her own theory on why he was killed.
"Just to shoot him and throw him out of the truck like that and take off? (The gunman) must have wanted something, like the mail," Davis said.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service passed out fliers in the neighborhood with Parton's picture in the hope that someone would come forward with information on the shooter.
While police are not calling the crime an armed robbery at this point, Davis said that the U.S. Postal Service's policy is for the mail carrier to hand over the mail if threatened.
"He would just give up the mail rather than get shot, so I think they didn't give him any chance," Davis said. "We know it is a dangerous job, but we don't expect to go out there and get shot. Maybe (get) bitten by a dog -- but not shot."
Parton worked for the post office for nearly 30 years. Davis said he planned on retiring and traveling, and the gunman snuffed out those dreams.
"I hope they catch him, and I hope they lock him up for the rest of his life," Davis said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455.