Suspect in standoff with FBI threatens to jump out of New York skyscraper
A suspect involved in a standoff with the FBI was seen with his legs dangling out of a window as he threatened to jump out of a 72-storey New York City skyscraper.
The male suspect reportedly barricaded himself inside a 31st-floor apartment in a luxury condo building called CitySpire on Manhattan’s West 56th Street on Wednesday morning.
Police cordoned off the area around the building and set up a massive inflatable pad to catch the suspect if he fell from the broken window through which he had placed his legs.
Three senior law enforcement officials told NBC New York that the FBI was executing a warrant for the arrest of a man on bank fraud-related charges.
“All of a sudden FBI agents came down and I saw that glass was shattered so they blocked everything off,” eyewitness Dominick Lagonigro told DailyMail.com.
“When I went upstairs – I work at the Carnegie Hall tower – I just saw him sitting. We didn’t know if he was going to jump or not. We hoped hopefully he wasn’t, but that’s what it is and he’s still up there now.
“It was horrifying actually and his mental state and mind. Who knows what’s running through his head?”
The building’s board of managers sent an email to tenants telling them no one was in danger and no guns were involved in the incident, according to NBC New York.
“The Board of Managers takes the safety of residents very seriously and it is our top priority,” the email stated. “We are in constant communication with the FBI and will keep you apprised of any further developments.”
