In an incident that inadvertently set off a celebrity Twitter trend on Thursday, a man seen pacing the streets with a shotgun outside United Nations headquarters in lower Manhattan was taken into custody after a standoff with police.
According to the New York Post‘s report, police said that the man was in his 60s, and was initially spotted pacing on First Avenue between East 42nd and 45th streets late Thursday morning.
Police reportedly encountered the man outside the UN building, concerned he was suicidal, and eventually took him into custody around 1:45pm, according to officials.
Actor Billy Bob Thornton began trending on Twitter as the incident began to make news rounds, with a number of social media users pointing out that the man appearing in photos of the developing situation resembled the Academy Award winner.
But while some were making jokes over the very serious situation, one Twitter user said they found such a trend “gross.”
Police noted the man is believed to be from Pennsylvania, having traveled to New York with a pair of suspicious backpacks, both of which were identified at the scene.
Sources noted the man told hostage negotiators that he was upset over environmental issues. The incident caused the roads surrounding the United Nations complex, put into precautionary lockdown, to be shut down by police.
