A federal judge rejected an Oregon man’s insanity defense and found him guilty of trying to kill a postal carrier on Christmas Eve in 2022, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Postal Service employee came across Kevin Eugene Irvine while delivering mail on foot, as snow covered the ground, during a cold day in Milwaukie, about a 5-mile drive southeast from Portland, according to prosecutors.
The postal worker saw Irvine, who was driving in a white van, and waved at him after they made eye contact, prosecutors said.
The postal worker believed Irvine waved first, but he had thrown “his arms in the air,” according to prosecutors. The letter carrier mistook the motion as a friendly gesture.
Shortly afterward, Irvine drove by the postal worker on a nearby street and made eye contact with him again before he pulled over several houses down the road, prosecutors said.
Irvine then stepped out of his van and aimed a rifle at the postal worker, who tried to take cover, according to prosecutors.
Irvine knelt down and fired three times, shooting the man in his left leg, according to court documents.
Then Irvine collected his shell casings, got back in his van and disappeared, prosecutors said.
Local law enforcement apprehended Irvine at Lake Oswego, where they found him a few days later, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
During a bench trial, Irvine, 34, of Tigard, was convicted on March 26 of attempted murder of a federal employee, aggravated assault on a federal employee with a firearm and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Federal public defenders appointed to represent Irvine didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment March 31.
After Irvine pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, the court found he was competent to stand trial, court records show.
The court ruled Irvine “failed to establish insanity by clear and convincing evidence,” court records state.
‘An attack that was completely unprovoked’
Following the shooting, the postal worker told local police that he didn’t recognize Irvine or his van before Christmas Eve in 2022, according to court documents.
After officers arrested Irvine, who was in his van, at Lake Oswego on Dec. 28, 2022, they “found three rifles, ammunition, spent shell casings, a knife, shooting targets and ballistic gear” in his vehicle, prosecutors said.
Irvine was wearing body armor during his arrest, according to court documents, and told authorities he was homeless and lived in his van.
He also denied shooting the postal worker, prosecutors said.
However, the evidence against Irvine was “overwhelming,” including how his van was seen on surveillance footage near the site of the shooting around the same time, prosecutors wrote in court filings.
During the investigation, investigators interviewed Irvine’s family members, who said they were scared of him, according to court documents.
His relatives told authorities that Irvine “has an affinity for firearms and owns several,” court documents say.
One of Irvine’s relatives said Irvine once revealed he had a plan to kill someone, according to court documents.
Before the shooting, Irvine had been arrested several times on misdemeanor offenses in Washington State, prosecutors wrote in filing in support of the government’s motion for Irvine’s pretrial detention. The motion was ultimately granted by the court.
Irvine “poses a substantial and unacceptable danger to the community,” prosecutors wrote. “He fired several rounds at a letter carrier on Christmas Eve, an attack that was completely unprovoked.”
Irvine’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 17, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He’s facing up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release “for each count of attempted murder of a federal employee and aggravated assault on a federal employee with a firearm,” prosecutors said.
Irvine faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and up to life in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the charge of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, according to prosecutors.
