Donnie Arlondo Ferrell, USPS Employee Ambush, TX 2018

Dallas, Texas — Six years after a U.S. Postal Service driver was gunned down in a cold-blooded ambush, Donnie Arlondo Ferrell, 25, of Hutchins, Texas, is finally in federal custody. Ferrell was arrested Monday and charged in a federal criminal complaint for the murder of a USPS employee on February 19, 2018 — a case cracked open by a pair of witnesses who came forward days after the killing.

The victim, a postal worker driving a USPS box truck shortly after 2:00 a.m. that morning, was struck by at least three gunshots fired from another vehicle. One round pierced his skull, killing him instantly. The truck veered off I-45 and crashed into a concrete barrier. Ferrell is charged with one count of murder of an officer or employee of the United States while engaged in official duties — a capital offense punishable by life in prison or any term of years, plus a $250,000 fine.

According to a sworn affidavit, two individuals walked into the FBI’s Fort Worth office on February 21, 2018, claiming knowledge of the shooter. They told investigators they’d been with Ferrell and another man the night before the murder. The group had met at a Dallas restaurant, then bounced between bars before leaving a pool hall around 1:30 a.m. Ferrell was riding shotgun when their car closed in on the postal truck.

Witnesses say the driver tried to pass the USPS vehicle on the left when Ferrell opened fire with a handgun. Sparks and smoke erupted from the truck’s cab. After the shooting, one passenger reportedly asked Ferrell why he fired — his answer: the postal driver had made a hand gesture that set him off. No provocation beyond that alleged gesture has been documented.

“While our family of federal employees is saddened by the tragic loss of one of our own, I am proud of the cooperative effort by our federal and local law enforcement partners to solve this heinous crime,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas. Ferrell appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rebecca Rutherford, silent as prosecutors laid out the case built on testimony, timing, and trajectory.

“The cooperation among federal and local law enforcement agencies in this matter is a prime example of how we work best when we work together,” said Thomas Noyes, Inspector in Charge of the Fort Worth Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is now being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys P.J. Meitl, Keith Robinson, Nicole Dana, and Errin Mar. Ferrell remains detained pending trial, presumed innocent until proven guilty under federal law.