After he had finished speaking and handing out the notes to his staffers, Dwyer grabbed a manila envelope and drew a Model 19 .357 Magnum revolver from it, causing others to panic. Dwyer backed up against the wall, holding the weapon close to his body, and said, “Please, please leave the room if this will — if this will affect you.”[76]
Reporters David Morris of the Associated Press, Thom Cole of UPI and Gary Warner of afternoon newspaper The Pittsburgh Press were at the rear of the room, waiting for Dwyer to say he had resigned so they could run down the hall to telephones to tell their editors they could publish pre-written stories and add Dwyer’s direct quote.[71] When Dwyer produced the revolver, the three ran into the hallway and shouted to a state police kiosk in the center of the long hallway that the treasurer had a gun.[71]
Several people in the room pleaded with Dwyer to surrender the gun or tried to approach him and seize the weapon. Dwyer warned against either action, saying as his last words: “This will hurt someone”.[77] Dwyer then killed himself with a single shot through the roof of the mouth.[78] His death was recorded by at least five running news cameras.[79]
Dwyer was pronounced dead at 11:31 a.m.[77] Per Dwyer’s status as an organ donor, his corneas were made available for transplant. By the time his body was recovered, it had been too long since his death for any other organs to be usable.[69] He was interred at Blooming Valley Cemetery in Saegertown on January 26.
Continue reading here because it stops right before the big event.
The rest of the story: