Hundreds gathered at a vigil in Milwaukee’s Hampton Heights neighborhood to honor the life of postal worker Aundre Cross.
People at Saturday’s event described him as a father, friend and loyal coworker whose life was taken too soon by senseless violence.
“Aundre was a brother, a mentor,” said Tia R., a former coworker of Cross. “He was just a beacon of light to all of us.”
A growing memorial for Aundre Cross Milwaukee United States Postal worker killed on Friday while doing his job. As violence continues to grow in the city residents are pleading for an end to the killings. I’m here now with @HarrisonMKE More on @tmj4 as the investigation develops pic.twitter.com/Vp0p2s2g7i
— Gideon WVW (@GidTruth) December 12, 2022
The 44-year-old was working Friday afternoon in Hampton Heights when he was shot in the middle of his delivery route.
Sherry Adams lives on Aundre’s mail route and says over the years he became like family to people on the street.
“He touched so many lives, so many, and we as a community we are hurting really, really bad,” Adams said. “It’s going to take us a while to move past this.”
As loved ones grieve his loss, area postal workers also came with a desperate plea against violence.
“If you know your mail carrier’s out there, your delivery driver’s outside, just make sure they make it to their truck and they go home safely,” said Tia R. “That’s all we want to do, is go home at the end of the night.”
People at the vigil spoke out about looking after each other in every community to prevent tragedies like this from continually taking place.
State and federal investigators are now working to find whoever killed Cross.
They are looking for an Audi Q5 SUV with tinted windows and offering a $50,000 dollar reward to anyone who can provide information that will lead to an arrest.
Until justice is served, members of USPS say they will fight to keep each other safe as they remember the life of their beloved friend.
“We’re postal family. This is past and present, you know, these are postal family, managers, carriers, clerks,” Tia R. told TMJ4 News. “When you work for the postal office you are always family.”
Aundre Cross was a husband and father of four. His family will be holding another vigil for him at the scene on Sunday, December 11th at 3 p.m.
