1977 New Rochelle shooting

1977 New Rochelle shooting
Location	40°53′56.8″N73°47′32.9″W / 40.899111°N 73.792472°W / 40.899111; -73.792472 New Rochelle, New York, United States
Date	February 14, 1977 7:45 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. (EST)
Target	People at the Neptune Worldwide Moving Company, mainly supervisor Norman Bing
Attack type	Mass shooting, workplace violence, siege
Weapons	Two handguns Automatic rifle
Deaths	7 (including the perpetrator and a victim who died weeks later)
Injured	4
Victims	Joseph Hicks, Frederick Holmes, James Green, Pariyarathu Varghese, Joseph Russo and Allen McLeod
Perpetrator	Frederick Cowan
Motive	Nazism and revenge

On February 14, 1977, a suspended worker of the Neptune Worldwide Moving Company entered the office and warehouse complex and opened fire, killing six people and injuring four others before killing himself in a 10-hour long siege. Five people were pronounced dead at the scene, while an injured victim died six weeks after the shooting.

Background

The Neptune Worldwide Moving Company was created in 1898 and grew rapidly. ^[1]

Shooting

Cowan dressed up in an army jacket, a khaki shirt and khaki slacks. He arrived with at 7:45 a.m. and took several fully loaded weapons and ammunition out of the trunk of his car. He then walked in looking for his supervisor Norman Bing who previously had him suspended from work. Cowan than fatally shot the first three people he encountered. He than moved to the second floor and killed another person. The first officer arrived at the scene within ten minutes of the first shot being fired but was killed by Cowan upon arrival. Cowan also shot and wounded three other officers that arrived and two civilians on the street out of a second-floor window. ^[2]

By noon, Cowan was surrounded by 300 officers and two police helicopters. He reportedly called the New Rochelle Police headquarters at 12:30 and asked for a potato salad and cocoa. He also apologized for the shooting. He shot himself approximately two hours later at 2:23 p.m. with one of the pistols. Police, unsure whether he had any hostages, waited until dusk to enter the building and later at night to remove the shooters body due to the possibility of him having hand grenades after he reportedly told the police on another phone call that he had plenty grenades and enough guns and ammunition to last him a whole day. The police later confirmed he had no hostages or hand grenades. They found multiple employees still hiding from the gunman by night time. ^{[2] [3]}

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was identified as 33-year-old Frederick Cowan. He fired over 100 shots during the shooting. Cowan was suspended from work after he was allegedly being rude to customers and had carried out the shooting in revenge for his suspension targeting his Jewish supervisor Norman Bing who had him suspended from work. Cowan was a United States Army veteran and World Body-Building League member. Cowan hated black and Jewish people, and admired Nazi's. ^[4] He collected Nazi paraphernalia at home, saying he was the second Adolf Hitler. Cowan had tattoos of swastikas and iron crosses. He also collected firearms and grenades. ^[2]

Aftermath

Four decades after the shooting in February 2018, the city of New Rochelle proposed to name a street "Police Officer Allen B. McLeod Way" in honour of officer Allen B. McLeod who was killed in the shooting. ^[5] The street was named in May. ^[6]

Reactions

About 3,500 policemen representing at least 62 police departments gathered at the church officer Allen B. McLeod's funeral was at, officials estimated, to pay their last respects. ^[7]

References

1. White, David F. (February 27, 1977). "Story of Neptune—Company in Trauma". The New York Times . Retrieved April 8, 2025.
2. Schmetterer, Jerry; Andrews, Mark (February 15, 1977). "Neptune murderer, Frederick Cowan, kills fives then himself in 1977". New York Daily News . Retrieved April 8, 2025.
3. "Officer Contradicts Woman's Testimony In Hearing on Cowan". The New York Times . September 8, 1977. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
4. Schumach, Murray (February 15, 1977). "Cowan Was 'Nice Man' to Some in New Rochelle, But to Others 'Real Prejudiced' Backer of Nazis". The New York Times . Retrieved April 8, 2025.
5. Tantillo, Nicholas (February 22, 2018). "New Rochelle wants to honor officer killed in 1977 Valentine's Day massacre". The Journal News . Retrieved April 8, 2025.
6. "[ARCHIVED] Nardozzi Place Named for P.O. Allen B. McLeod". City of New Rochelle, NY. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
7. White, David F. (February 18, 1977). "Policeman killed by cultist buried". The New York Times . Retrieved April 8, 2025.