Joseph Hicks, a 59-year-old African-American man, walked into work on the morning of February 14, 1977, expecting an ordinary start to the day at Neptune World Wide Moving in New Rochelle. Instead, the warehouse turned into a killing ground when a suspended employee, Frederick W. Cowan, came back armed and looking for revenge.
Witnesses and later accounts describe Cowan arriving dressed in military-style clothing and carrying a small arsenal. Inside the terminal, he confronted coworkers at close range and opened fire almost immediately. Hicks was among the first struck, shot in the initial burst of violence, collapsing near the entry area as panic exploded through the corridors and offices.
The attack quickly spread beyond the first hallway. Cowan moved through work areas shooting additional employees, demanding to know the whereabouts of Norman Bing, the supervisor he blamed for his suspension. As terrified workers ran, hid in locked rooms, or slipped out when they could, Cowan climbed to an upstairs position that gave him both cover and a deadly vantage point over responding officers and the street outside.
Police flooded the area, initially uncertain whether there were multiple gunmen or hostages inside. The first officer to arrive was shot down near the entrance, and the scene hardened into a long standoff: sharpshooters taking positions, an armored vehicle used to move under fire, and a growing perimeter as the hours dragged on and the building remained dangerous to enter.
There was no arrest. Cowan ultimately died by suicide inside the building, ending the siege; when teams moved in, they found him dead and located weapons and ammunition around him. In the aftermath, investigators searched Cowan's residence under warrant and reported finding Nazi-related materials and additional weaponry, reinforcing the portrait of a suspect driven by extremist obsession as well as grievance. Hicks's death, though part of a broader massacre, remained rooted in that first, sudden moment when violence entered the workplace without warning and never gave him a chance to escape.
