At approximately 2:30 AM on June 17, 1966, two men entered the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey, and began shooting. The bartender, James Oliver, and a customer, Fred Nauyoks, were killed immediately. Hazel Tanis died in hospital a month later, having suffered multiple wounds from shotgun pellets; a third customer, Willie Marins, survived the attack, despite a head wound that cost him the sight in one eye. When questioned, both told police the shooters had been black males, though neither identified Carter or John Artis.