Suspect opened fire on postal worker after gesture angered him, according to affidavit
A 25-year-old man was taken into custody early Thursday in connection with the fatal shooting of a U.S. Postal Service worker on Interstate 30 on Monday.
U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said in a statement that Donnie Arlando Ferrell of Hutchins is charged with one count of murder of an officer or employee of the United States.
The victim, 58-year-old Tony Mosby, was found dead in a mail truck not far from a mail processing center off I-30..
“With this arrest, we take a crucial step towards ensuring that the person allegedly responsible for this senseless murder is brought to justice,” Nealy Cox said.
According to an affidavit, Mosby left the Dallas Main Post Office in a USPS box truck early Monday. Minutes later, at least three gunshots were fired at Mosby and his truck. One of the shots, from what police believe was a .38-caliber handgun, fatally struck him in the head.
Dallas police were dispatched to 110 Interstate 30, a spot near the I-35E interchange, where they found Mosby dead in the truck.
On Wednesday morning, , according to the affidavit, two people visited the FBI’s office in Fort Worth saying they had information related to the killing. They told investigators that they had met with two others, including Ferrell, at a restaurant in Dallas on Sunday night. They consumed alcohol and made several other stops until leaving a pool hall in Dallas at about 1:30 a.m. Monday.
Ferrell was sitting in the front passenger seat of a 2008 Mazda Tribute SUV. The two witnesses told investigators that the driver of the vehicle began driving erratically and, at one point, attempted to pass the USPS truck on the left. Moments later, Ferrell fired several shots from a handgun in the direction of the USPS truck, according to the affidavit.
The witnesses observed smoke and sparks coming from the truck, which then struck a highway barrier.
One of the occupants in the car asked Ferrell why he had fired at the truck, according to the affidavit, and Ferrell responded that the driver had made a hand gesture that angered him.
The driver of the SUV dropped Ferrell off at a hotel in Dallas afterward, then later learned that the postal employee had died. The driver informed Ferrell of Mosby's death through a series of text messages. The two witnesses told investigators that they had received text messages from Ferrell asking them not to tell anyone about the shooting.
This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Suspect opened fire on postal worker after gesture angered him, according to affidavit."