Archive:2002 UN Headquarters shooting
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Template:Infobox civilian attack On October 3, 2002, a shooting incident occurred outside the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, when a lone gunman fired multiple shots into the air. No one was injured or killed in the incident.[1][2]
Shooting
At approximately 1:10 p.m., the gunman bypassed security by climbing over a five-foot perimeter fence facing First Avenue near 43rd Street. Once inside the driveway of the UN compound, he emptied a .357 Magnum revolver, firing seven shots high into the air toward the 38-story glass-and-steel Secretariat skyscraper.
Four of the bullets struck the building's facade, breaking a window in an 18th-floor restroom and hitting an American Express office on the 20th floor, narrowly missing several UN employees.[3]
Immediately after discharging his weapon, Kim threw a sheaf of handwritten leaflets into the air addressed "to all people who love freedom and justice," which called on the UN to help dismantle the North Korean government. He then calmly leaned against a flagpole and waited to be apprehended without resisting.[4]
Perpetrator
The shooter was identified as Steve Kim, a 58-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen of Korean descent who worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Des Plaines, Illinois. At the time, he was married with two sons.
Kim's actions were a political protest aimed at drawing international attention to human rights abuses in North Korea under the regime of Kim Jong-il.
In October 2003, a federal judge sentenced Steve Kim to 27 months in prison after he entered a plea bargain for the incident.[5][6]
Aftermath
After the shooting, Kim was immediately taken into custody inside the compound by U.S. Secret Service agents who were on-site preparing for the motorcade departure of visiting Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides.
At the time of the shooting, the UN Security Council was actively meeting on the lower floors to discuss weapon inspections in Iraq, and Secretary-General Kofi Annan was in his 38th-floor office. The meetings were not interrupted, and the building was not evacuated because the shots were largely unheard from inside.
Following the security breach, UN security officials expedited plans to reinforce and strengthen the outer perimeter of the Manhattan headquarters complex.
References
- ↑ "UN Security retrieves bullets that hit Headquarters during Thursday's shooting incident". October 4, 2002. https://news.un.org/en/story/2002/10/47402.
- ↑ "No one hurt as gunman fires shots in the air outside UN building in New York". October 3, 2002. https://news.un.org/en/story/2002/10/47252.
- ↑ "Shots Fired At U.N. Aimed At North Korea". CBS News. October 3, 2002. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shots-fired-at-un-aimed-at-north-korea/.
- ↑ "Demonstrator shoots up U.N.". October 4, 2002. https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2002/10/04/demonstrator-shoots-up-u-n/50751308007/.
- ↑ Lehmann, John (April 4, 2003). "U.N. SHOOTER MAY GET 3 YEARS". New York Post. https://nypost.com/2003/04/04/u-n-shooter-may-get-3-years/.
- ↑ "Judge sentences man who fired bullets at United Nations". CNN. October 21, 2003. https://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/10/20/un.shooting.sentence/index.html.