Silke Jasso
DUBLIN, Ohio — A U.S. Postal employee is accused of killing an Ohio postmaster and his supervisor in separate shootings Saturday at the Dublin post office and a Columbus apartment complex.
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Deshaune K. Stewart is charged with aggravated murder for the pair of killings.
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According to court documents, three witnesses said they saw Stewart, who was naked, shoot 52-year-old Lance Herrera-Dempsey in the Dublin post office shortly before 5 a.m. Herrera-Dempsey was Stewart’s direct supervisor, and Stewart was under investigation by the U.S Postal Service, police said.
Stewart then is accused of fatally shooting 53-year-old Ginger E. Ballard, the Dublin Postmaster, at the Bowland Place apartments in north Columbus. A 3-year-old child was involved in the incident but was safe inside a vehicle, police said.
Columbus police dispatchers received a 911 call around 7:15 a.m. about a man with a gun chasing a woman outside the apartment complex, about 4 miles (6 kilometers) from the post office. Patrol officers arrested Stewart and recovered a handgun after he tried to run away.
The body of the postmaster, Ginger Ballard was found lying between two vehicles. A police affidavit filed with the murder charge in Franklin County Municipal Court said Ballard died instantly of blunt-force trauma to the head after being thrown to the ground, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
#Update: Dublin Police confirm one man died from shooting here on Emerald Parkway @nbc4i Police tape still surrounds post office – more details soon @nbc4i pic.twitter.com/DyRriq2pIi
— Elyse Chengery (@ElyseChengery) December 23, 2017
Police earlier described Ballard as a postal inspector. The Dispatch has reported that documents found online refer to her as the Dublin postmaster.
Sicilian described the slaying to reporters earlier Saturday as “workplace violence” involving a suspect who retaliated against two people involved in his pending dismissal from the U.S. Postal Service.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
