Officials offering $250,000 for information on person who gunned down Atlanta-area postal worker

A postal worker was killed on the job recently in the Atlanta area, and now federal investigators are offering up to $250,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said in a reward notice that the victim was shot at 6:51 p.m. Thursday while he was delivering mail in Decatur, Georgia, 6 miles east of Atlanta.

The service’s policy is to offer as much as $250,000 in any case that involves “the unlawful killing of any officer, employee, or contractor of the Postal Service while engaged in or on account of the performance of his or her official duties.”

The victim has been identified as Dequavious Graves, 31, according to Atlanta’s WAGA-TV.

The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mr. Graves died of his injuries after being shot, according to another Atlanta station, WXIA-TV.

The incident was caught by a residential doorbell camera, and the DeKalb County Police Department is working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to try and figure out whether Mr. Graves was targeted because of his work or for other reasons, reported Atlanta’s WSB-TV.

“From my understanding, he made everybody smile at the job and on his route, because every time on his route they would give him some snacks or like when it’s hot they would give him water, so he loved it,” the victim’s mother, Shannon Graves, told WXIA.

Ms. Graves also told WSB that some of her son’s coworkers paid respects on Sunday, saying “they loved him. I didn’t know there was so much love for him. It was like he ran the post office because I didn’t know he was that important.”

Mr. Graves was working out of the Wesley Chapel Post Office in Decatur at the time of his death.

“The Postal Service is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of a Postal family member with three years of service in a fatal incident on February 12. Our thoughts are with their family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time,” the U.S. Postal Service told WXIA.