On October 10, 1991, Joseph VanderPaauw, a 59-year-old male mail handler from Prospect Park, New Jersey, arrived for his shift at the Ridgewood post office, unaware of the horrific events that would shortly unfold. His life was tragically cut short in a violent rampage carried out by a disgruntled former postal worker, Joseph Harris. Dressed in combat fatigues and a ninja mask, Harris was armed with a machine gun, grenades, and a samurai sword, bent on revenge for his dismissal from the same
post office over a year and a half prior.
The night of terror began before Harris even reached the post office. He first went to the Wayne, New Jersey, home of his former supervisor, Carol Ott. There, he brutally murdered Ott with the samurai sword and shot and killed her fiancé, Cornelius Kasten. From there, Harris proceeded to the Ridgewood post office, intent on ambushing his former colleagues as they arrived for their early morning shifts. It was there that he encountered Joseph VanderPaauw and another mail handler, Donald McNaught. Both men were shot and killed by Harris.
Following the murders of VanderPaauw and McNaught, Harris barricaded himself inside the post office, leading to a tense four-and-a-half-hour standoff with police. During the standoff, he set off two small explosives. The bodies of VanderPaauw and McNaught were later discovered in a first-floor ladies' room after Harris surrendered to law enforcement. Investigators believe that the swift police response prevented Harris from killing more of the 40 employees scheduled to arrive for their shifts.
Joseph Harris was arrested at the scene and charged with four counts of murder, among other offenses. His subsequent trial revealed a history of psychiatric problems and a deep-seated grudge against his former employer. In 1992, he was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. However, before his execution could be carried out, Joseph Harris died of natural causes in prison in September of 1996. The violent spree he conducted left a lasting scar on the community and contributed to the coining of the phrase "going postal" to describe workplace violence.
