HAZLETON -- As members of the media were waiting for a news conference to begin in Hazleton about a deadly shooting, cops rushed to another scene where neighbors thought they heard more gunshots.
The police chief doesn't think the two incidents are connected, but they do have people on edge.
The police chief just told us that a suspect was taken into custody just a short time ago for a deadly weekend shooting in Hazleton.
The alleged shooter's name has not been released.
This comes after a busy afternoon for Hazleton police, when three people were taken into custody for a separate incident of violence.
Police cars swarmed an intersection Monday afternoon right near Dollar General in Hazleton after getting reports of shots being fired in the area.
People working nearby say it all happen quickly, and looked on as police quickly swept the area.
“I was in my office doing paperwork and an employee came out and said it sounded like a gun shot, so I came out and I didn’t see any gunshots at all, and just seen a Durango plow that car through the intersection,” said David Basala.
Police say this commotion turned out to be a hit and run incident where shots were fired.
Hazleton officers caught up with the red car involved just a few blocks away and two of the three individuals were cuffed and taken into custody.
“While on the scene, we were able to identify one of the individuals involved in the gunfight. He was taken into custody. He did admit to us that he did have a weapon and we recovered the weapon,” said Chief Frank Deandrea.
The third suspect took off, after crashing into several cars in Hazleton, and was caught in another county by state police.
All of this just days after a different shooting took the life of a 19-year-old in Hazleton. Neighbors who didn’t wish to be identified told Newswatch 16 all the violence frightens them.
“For me it does anyway, because you don’t know what’s going on in people’s heads, and it’s just scary, like I said, I get out of my car, I come in, my house, I lock myself in and that’s that.”
Police do want to assure residents that these two incidents of violence in Hazleton have no relation whatsoever.