Tigard man convicted of attempted murder after shooting postal worker on Christmas Eve in 2022
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Tigard man was found guilty in a federal court of shooting a U.S. postal worker in 2022.
Kevin Eugene Irvine, 34, was convicted of multiple charges related to the incident, including attempted murder of a federal employee, aggravated assault on a federal employee with a gun and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Irvine originally claimed the insanity defense but a judge found he failed to establish legal insanity and was found guilty of all three charges, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Irvine was indicted by a grand jury on the charges in a federal court in Portland back in 2023.
The incident occurred on December 24, 2022, in Milwaukie. Irvine had been driving a white van, made eye contact with a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in uniform delivering mail, and threw his arms in the air. The letter carrier mistook this as waving, and waved back, court documents say.
On a nearby street, the same van once again appeared and the letter carrier noticed it and made eye contact with the driver as he passed by.
"Irvine stopped the van several houses away, got out of the van with a rifle, knelt on the street corner and fired three rounds, striking the letter carrier once as the letter carrier ran for cover," the U.S. DOJ said in a press release. "After the shooting, Irvine picked up the shell casings and drove off."
The van was located by officers four days later in Lake Oswego. Police stopped the vehicle and arrested Irvine. Investigators later found — via a search warrant — three rifles, ammunition, spent shell casings, a knife, shooting targets and ballistics gear inside the van.
Irvine faces up to life in prison for the charges. He will be sentenced on July 17.