Hi all, We are writing to let you all know about an incident that occurred earlier today during the opening ceremony of Wikiconference North America.
The most important thing to start with is that everyone is safe and no one was hurt. During the opening ceremony, a conference attendee entered the venue with a gun and approached the stage, announcing an apparent suicide attempt. The individual was quickly detained by conference participants and then removed from the premises by law enforcement. Investigations are underway, including internally and with law enforcement, to gather more information. We are not going to be providing more information about the individual involved while investigations are ongoing, and would ask others to not share details in this public forum. Both of us want to extend our gratitude - to the individuals who moved so quickly during the opening ceremony to respond, and to all of the attendees for staying calm in the moment, following safety protocol, and supporting one another. Folks here at the conference have had time together today, and plan to resume the program tomorrow with more security onsite. Thank you to everyone who has reached out today offering support and concern. We’ll share more information when we can. Maryana Iskander, Wikimedia Foundation CEO Pacita Rudder, Wikimedia NYC Executive Director
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