On October 10, 1991, Joseph VanderPaauw, a 59-year-old mail handler from Prospect Park, New Jersey, was among the victims of a violent attack at the Ridgewood post office. A former postal worker, wearing combat fatigues and a ninja mask and armed with a machine gun, grenades, and a samurai sword, entered the post office that morning. VanderPaauw and another mail handler, Donald McNaught, were shot and killed; their bodies were later found in a first-floor ladies’ room after the attacker surrendered.

The assailant had earlier murdered a supervisor, Carol Ott, and her fiancé, Cornelius Kasten, at Ott’s home in Wayne, New Jersey, before proceeding to Ridgewood to ambush coworkers. After the killings at the post office he barricaded himself inside, set off two small explosives, and engaged in a four-and-a-half-hour standoff with police that ended with his arrest. The swift police response reportedly prevented further loss of life among the roughly 40 employees scheduled to arrive.

Anyone who knew Joseph VanderPaauw, his routines at the Ridgewood post office, or has information about that morning is asked to come forward.