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Karen Knapp, Spring Lake, NJ

Woman at counter
Spring Lake, NJ, Retail Associate Karen Knapp

Retail Associate Karen Knapp was on duty recently in Spring Lake, NJ, when she encountered a customer in crisis.

The man, covered in blood, came into the Post Office and handed her a piece of outgoing mail.

Knapp tried to determine what was wrong, but the man left without speaking, apparently in a state of shock.

Knapp alerted the Postmaster and called 911, giving the operator the customer’s return address from the mail he’d dropped off.

Emergency responders found the man at home in dire need of medical attention for an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A member of his family later visited the Post Office to thank Knapp for getting help for the man when he desperately needed it.

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