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U.N. Shooter Apprehended by U.N. Security
Aired October 03, 2002 - 14:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, gunfire outside the United Nations building in New York, but apparently no one is hurt, and police handcuffed one man and already took him away for interrogation.
Our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, witnessed the incident -- what more can you tell us...
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A man -- I turned from this window, basically, and I saw a man shooting a pistol up in the air.
This man, if the papers that he later threw up in the air are to be believed, his name could be Steve Kim (ph). After -- he put the gun down on the ground, and then was surrounded by U.N. security people who took him away. The pieces of paper, 25 white pieces of paper complained about the plight of North Korea, the people of North Korea.
The note originally began "all people who love freedom and justice" was at the top.
Now, U.N. security says he is believed to have jumped the fence, the perimeter around the United Nations, and that is how he got onto the grounds. There he is standing virtually waiting to be detained, and arrested.
The U.N. has its police force. It is those people were the first on the scene. Only later has the New York City Police, FBI, State Department Security, at the invitation of the U.N., as is customary, have entered the U.N. grounds.
The man was walked away from this site after -- as you see, being held at gun point there and taken to U.N. security offices. According to announcements made by the United Nations, a bullet or two struck the 18th, 20th floor areas in this United Nations headquarters compound.
That probably is actually more from our reporting staff and maybe not from the U.N. security, but the man jumped the fence, according to the U.N. In loud speaker announcements throughout the building, they said an incident occurred. It's under control. There were at least four or five shots fired. We do not know if it was a actual pistol or whether it was some type of cap device, but this does not happen every day here. United Nations security in the wake of terrorism has vastly increased. A lot more perimeter cameras and more uniformed personnel, but there is a long fence along First Avenue. This man was wearing dark clothing, but I did not see anybody near him when he was firing these pistols. Once you get onto the U.N. grounds, unless your pass is very visible, or where people see a problem, they are not going to even notice you, that you wouldn't even be wearing it because people put it, sometimes in their clothing, so that's what probably happened. He would not have been noticed otherwise, but once started in the air, he stood out.
PHILLIPS: All right. Richard Roth from the U.N. Thanks, Richard.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 3, 2002 - 14:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, gunfire outside the United Nations building in New York, but apparently no one is hurt, and police handcuffed one man and already took him away for interrogation.
Our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, witnessed the incident -- what more can you tell us...
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A man -- I turned from this window, basically, and I saw a man shooting a pistol up in the air.
This man, if the papers that he later threw up in the air are to be believed, his name could be Steve Kim (ph). After -- he put the gun down on the ground, and then was surrounded by U.N. security people who took him away. The pieces of paper, 25 white pieces of paper complained about the plight of North Korea, the people of North Korea.
The note originally began "all people who love freedom and justice" was at the top.
Now, U.N. security says he is believed to have jumped the fence, the perimeter around the United Nations, and that is how he got onto the grounds. There he is standing virtually waiting to be detained, and arrested.
The U.N. has its police force. It is those people were the first on the scene. Only later has the New York City Police, FBI, State Department Security, at the invitation of the U.N., as is customary, have entered the U.N. grounds.
The man was walked away from this site after -- as you see, being held at gun point there and taken to U.N. security offices. According to announcements made by the United Nations, a bullet or two struck the 18th, 20th floor areas in this United Nations headquarters compound.
That probably is actually more from our reporting staff and maybe not from the U.N. security, but the man jumped the fence, according to the U.N. In loud speaker announcements throughout the building, they said an incident occurred. It's under control. There were at least four or five shots fired. We do not know if it was a actual pistol or whether it was some type of cap device, but this does not happen every day here. United Nations security in the wake of terrorism has vastly increased. A lot more perimeter cameras and more uniformed personnel, but there is a long fence along First Avenue. This man was wearing dark clothing, but I did not see anybody near him when he was firing these pistols. Once you get onto the U.N. grounds, unless your pass is very visible, or where people see a problem, they are not going to even notice you, that you wouldn't even be wearing it because people put it, sometimes in their clothing, so that's what probably happened. He would not have been noticed otherwise, but once started in the air, he stood out.
PHILLIPS: All right. Richard Roth from the U.N. Thanks, Richard.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
