A man from Ohio jumped onstage with a loaded gun at a Wikipedia conference in Manhattan and threatened to shoot himself Friday morning but was stopped before he could pull the trigger, police said.

The 27-year-old suspect, carrying a flag adorned with a message regarding pedophiles, was taken by police to the East Village’s 9th Precinct stationhouse for questioning after staff workers at the conference — at Civic Hall on E. 14th St. in Union Square — grabbed him, police said.

The man was later taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. He has not yet been charged.

A couple who answered the phone at the suspect’s Dayton, Ohio, address said they did not know he had been arrested and declined to comment.

Police said the suspect was a registered attendant at the WikiConference North America but that it wasn’t clear why he threatened to kill himself.

Witnesses started calling 911 at 10:28 a.m. and said the man, armed with a loaded revolver, aimed the gun at his head in front of about 150 people and was threatening to kill himself, police said.

Police sources said he was carrying a flag that read, in all capital letters, ANTI-CONTACT NON-OFFENDING PEDOPHILE, an apparent reference to those who have a sexual interest in children but have not accessed child porn or had sexual contact with children.

Sources also said he also said, loud enough for the crowd to hear: “I’m a non-contact pedophile — I want to kill myself.”

The suspect has appeared in public previously with the same sign, though it did not appear he had done so in New York City.

Lauren Dickinson, a spokeswoman for the Wikimedia Foundation, said no one at the WikiConference North America was hurt and the rest of the day’s program was canceled.

She also said “there will be additional security as well as law enforcement on site for the remainder of this event.”

The conference started Thursday and is scheduled to end Sunday.

The suspect, sources said, rode Amtrak to the city from Ohio and arrived Wednesday.

Originally Published: October 17, 2025 at 1:05 PM EDT