Armed man walks up and down outside UN headquarters in New York

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.