A Wikipedia conference in Manhattan descended into chaos Friday morning when an unhinged Ohio man jumped on stage and pointed a gun at his own head.
Connor Weston, 27, allegedly clutched the loaded revolver as he declared, “I’m a non-contact pedophile. I want to kill myself” — prompting WikiConference staff to quickly tackle and disarm him before cops took him into custody, sources said.
“It was just adrenaline,” said one of the staffers who stopped the gunman. “Since you’re on the trust and safety team you’re expected to do this . . . we’re not used to loaded weapons in the same room . . . we’re used to more prank behavior.”
Weston — who wore a multicolored banner draped over his shoulders and a sign around his neck with the words “ANTI-CONTACT NON-OFFENDING PEDOPHILE” — was detained at the conference, which was hosted at Union Square’s Civic Hall on East 14th Street near Irving Place, sources said.
“I think we handled it pretty well considering this was not an expected thing,” the worker who helped stop the incident added. “We’re expected to do that for every event but in a place like NYC you’re going to have more people and more chance of it.”
Hellbound and Down 