Police make arrest in Lufkin mail carrier shooting

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - Lufkin police have arrested a man accused of shooting a Lufkin mail carrier while she was on her route on Saturday.

Jaylon Carroll Wortham, 17, is charged with third-degree assault causing bodily injury against a government employee. His bail has been set at $7,500.

According to a police report, Lindsey Guthery, a mail carrier with the postal service was shot on the 1100 block of Sayers Street. Officers were dispatched to the area and reported Guthery was wearing a USPS uniform and delivering mail when she heard a shot and felt a stinging sensation at the back of her left thigh. She said she fell to her knees and wiped blood from the back of her knee. She told police she thought she was shot by someone in a group of people near the front porch of a house.

The officers saw a bleeding wound with was about one-quarter inch in diameter, on her leg and believed it was from an air rifle shooting a BB or pellet.

Detectives interviewed people at the house and identified Wortham as one of those in front of the home when the shot was fired. Detectives interviewed Wortham and learned he had fired an air rifle in Guthery's direction, though he denied intentionally hitting her with it. The report states Wortham said he was shooting at a bird or a squirrel, but did not know which.

Wortham surrendered himself to police at noon on Tuesday.

The United States Postal Inspection Services assisted with the investigation.