Staff at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York have been ordered to shelter in place due to an armed individual outside the precinct’s main gate.
A man, wearing a red jumper, is walking up and down the pavement in front of the main entrance to the UN, pointing a gun at his neck.
He’s is completely surrounded by local law enforcement.
Update from UN correspondent Sherwin Bryce-Pease:
The armed man, in his fifties or sixties, has been outside the building for the better part of an hour pointing the gun at his neck, likely as a deterrence to keep police officers at bay.
He doesn’t appear to pose a threat to anyone else as the UN precinct has been secured by heavily armed UN officers while their colleagues with the New York Police Department seek to de-escalate the situation outside the main gate.
In a tweet, the NYPD indicates that there is no threat to the public while operations inside the UN building continue unaffected.
The visitor’s entrance to the UN, a few blocks up from the main gate, has already been reopened.