Probe of Post Office Shootings Urged : Violence: Lawyer for alleged stalking victim says the agency knew of danger but had a fatal indifference.

The attorney for a postal worker who was allegedly stalked by accused killer Mark Richard Hilbun charged Friday that local postal officials had a fatal indifference to employees’ fears that someday Hilbun would shoot someone at the facility.

At a news conference outside the Dana Point post office, attorney Jack M. Earley called for an independent investigation into last week’s post office shooting that left one worker dead and another wounded. He said a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service is being considered by his client, Kim Springer, and other postal workers.

“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, court records that were unsealed Friday revealed that when investigators found Hilbun’s pickup truck after his arrest last Saturday, they discovered bloodstains, a .22-caliber magnum revolver with spent shell casings and other items.

Hilbun, 39, allegedly went to the Dana Point post office 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, 29, of Laguna Beach, hid under a desk and was not injured by the gunfire, but is said to be distraught over the death of postal worker Charles Barbagallo, whom Hilbun is charged with killing.

Appearing at Friday’s news conference surrounded by fellow postal workers, relatives and friends, Springer continued to maintain a 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) 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.”

David Mazer, a spokesman for the Postal Service, declined to comment on specific complaints about post office security on the day of the shootings.

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.