Police arrests armed man outside UN, says he wanted to get some papers delivered
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This came after a two hours standoff with the man who was holding a shotgun loaded with one buckshot round pointed under his neck
New York City police officers have finally arrested an armed man outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan. The police had already cordoned off the premises and surrounded the man.
This came after a two hours standoff with the man who was holding a shotgun loaded with one buckshot round pointed under his neck. According to reports, the man was a middle-aged white male with grey hair wearing a red sweater and tan jacket.
Harry Wedin, NYPD chief of special operations said, "We knew early on that this did not appear to be terror related."
He further highlighted that the man had some papers he wanted to deliver to the UN. "The dialogue went back and forth about how we might be able to accommodate his request and bring the incident to a peaceful conclusion," he said.
The members of the Emergency Service Unit took possession of the papers and managed to deliver them to the UN. After this, the individual immediately put down the shotgun and was taken into custody.
The lone man was transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker said the man, who he declined to identify, had "some issues."
"Essentially, he wanted the UN to receive his documents, which is ultimately what we agreed to do, is provide those documents to the UN and he said if we could do that, he would put the gun down and end it, which is exactly what happened," Tucker said.
Images and videos went viral on social media which showed armed police surrounding the man standing on a sidewalk.
(With inputs from agencies)