HENNING, Tenn. -Two post office workers were killed Monday in a shooting at a post office in West Tennessee during a possible robbery attempt, authorities said.
The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department told The Associated Press that two female employees were killed Monday morning in what may have been a robbery at the Henning post office. Officers are searching for a maroon Chevrolet Malibu with two men inside.
A witness told a state employee at the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville, Tony Burns, that the shooting happened during a robbery attempt. Burns said his sister-in-law, a postal service worker, was assigned to the Henning office Monday. He said she told him she escaped unharmed.
Jeff Dew, of the Dennis Dew Termite Co., told the AP that his brother, Eric Banks, was driving through the area when a woman flagged him down near the post office.
He said that his brother reported the shooting to police. He said he hasn't been able to speak to his brother because his brother has been talking with police since about 9 a.m.
Beth Barnett, a U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman, said there had been an incident at the post office but didn't yet have further details.
The FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are helping the postal service investigate.
Henning, about 45 miles northeast of Memphis, was the hometown of "Roots" author Alex Haley.