Man Slits Wrists During Taping of 'Today' Show
A man watching the "Today" show being filmed slit his wrists in an effort to harm himself. The man, identified by two reports as Pak Chong Mar, was taken to a nearby hospital, but did not harm hosts Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer, who were outside when the incident took place.
"Opening the 8 o'clock half hour inside the studio today because there was an incident out on the plaza," Lauer said after the ordeal. "A short time ago, a man out there attempted to harm himself with a knife. He did manage to cut himself. He was controlled by our security team out there. However, he did harm himself in some way. And so he's now being attended to by medical personnel."
Mar apparently spoke incoherently and asked bystanders to read a stack of documents relating to the IRS before throwing them up in the air in frustration. Those nearby said that the man ranted about how the IRS had "ruined his life." He then whipped out a pocketknife and yelled, "I'm going to cut myself!" before hurting himself.
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Security officials rushed toward Mar and pepper-sprayed him in order to subdue him and prevent him from causing further harm to himself or to others. Mar was then taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where he is expected to survive. Officials have not released his name or whether he meant to cause anyone else harm.
"All secure on the plaza after a scary incident," Lauer tweeted. "Thanks to our security team and the NYPD."
"It happened really fast – and then he was down," Jossie Edwards, a tourist, told the New York Daily News.
"We were pinned, and I thought the barricade would go over. He lifted his arm really high," eyewitness Kimberlee Sangiovanni told The New York Post, "he took the blade and literally cut deep. All the way across his forearm, and he kept cutting. I thought he was going to attack us."
