Lawyer Blasts Postal Officials : Probe: Attorney for the woman allegedly stalked by suspect in Dana Point post office shooting calls for an independent investigation.

Postal officials had a “fatal indifference” to workers who feared that Mark Richard Hilbun would shoot somebody at the post office, the attorney for a female postal worker who was allegedly stalked by the accused killer charged Friday.

At a press conference outside the Dana Point post office, attorney Jack M. Earley called for an independent investigation into last week’s shooting at the post office in which Hilbun allegedly killed one worker and wounded another. He said a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service is being considered by his client, Kim Springer, and other postal employees.

“The postal authorities knew there were threats of violence,” Earley said. “The employees came here every day expecting there to be shootings. Nothing was done to protect the employees.”

Meanwhile, a search warrant filed in court disclosed for the first time Friday that when investigators found Hilbun’s pickup truck after his arrest Saturday, they discovered spattered blood, a Smith & Wesson .22-caliber magnum revolver with spent shell casings, live ammunition and a vast assortment of other items.

On the day of the post office violence, Hilbun apparently stopped by a Tower Records store and bought two compact discs, according to a receipt found inside his vehicle.

Also found inside the 1990 Toyota was a spear gun, all-weather clothing, a crossbow, kitchen utensils and tools. There was a Southwest Sea-Kayaks newsletter addressed to Hilbun, who witnesses said had a kayak attached to the truck when they reported seeing him drive away from the post office after the shooting. The kayak was later dumped.

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis, whose department obtained the search warrant, refused Friday to comment on the contents of the vehicle.

Hilbun, 39, a former postal carrier, had allegedly gone to the Dana Point post office on May 6 looking for Springer, his former co-worker. At the post office, Hilbun called out “Kim!” before shooting one employee and wounding another, authorities said.

Springer, of Laguna Beach, hid under a desk and was not injured by gunfire, but is distraught over the death of postal worker Charles Barbagallo, whom Hilbun is charged with killing.

Neighbors and co-workers said Hilbun had been stalking Springer since last fall, leaving her gifts, following her on her postal route and eventually harassing her with threatening telephone calls and letters.

Appearing at Friday’s news conference and surrounded by other postal workers, family members and friends, Springer, 29, maintained her public silence about the shootings, saying only: “I am doing fine right now, but I don’t have any statements to make to anybody.”

Her 27-year-old sister, Cynthia Springer, said: Kim Springer “hopes Charlie (Barbagallo) didn’t die in vain and that positive changes within the postal system will result from the incident. Kim thinks it’s a tragedy, considering the history of postal violence, that nothing was done to protect postal employees.”

Earley said he did not know when or if Springer would return to work.

Besides criticizing the Postal Service’s security measures, Earley also called its management style “callous and non-responsive.”

David Mazer, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, declined Friday to comment on specific charges about post office security on the day of the shooting or about management practices.

He said the Postal Service is already investigating the incident and is cooperating with law enforcement agencies involved in the case.

“We expect people to feel angry,” Mazer said. “They are very traumatized. We feel frustrated too that something like this happened.”

On Monday, Hilbun pleaded not guilty to 13 felony charges. He is charged with two counts of murder in the stabbing death of his 63-year-old mother in her Corona del Mar home and the shooting of Barbagallo at the Dana Point post office.

Hilbun also faces seven counts of attempted murder, two counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery and one count of attempted kidnaping stemming from crimes before and after the post office violence.

Times correspondent Frank Messina contributed to this story.