HAZLETON -- Police in Hazleton took one person into custody Thursday night in connection with a deadly stabbing.
Around 9:30 p.m. state and local police surrounded a vehicle on Broad Street with guns drawn after a chase. State police said they arrested a man from Newark, New Jersey in connection with the stabbing. They said they are still searching for one other suspect.
Investigators said they were called to a home in the 600 block of Cleveland Street just before 6 a.m. Thursday for reports of a stabbing.
The Luzerne County Coroner's office identified the victim as Zachary Richards, 27, who died after he was stabbed in the back. The victim was found in the front doorway where he died. Hazleton police said this was not a random act of violence.
"This is definitely not a random act, and I don't want the community to think that it is. It's an argument that ended up with a homicide," said Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea.
According to the Luzerne County District Attorney's office, the victim was the brother of one of the assistant district attorneys. Authorities do not believe that had anything to do with the crime, but because of that connection the case will be handled by the state attorney general's office.
Firefighters helped four people from the second floor of the home on Cleveland Street, including a young child. Police admit it was unusual to call in firefighters, but they took people out of the second floor using a ladder so they wouldn't have to walk through a bloody crime scene.
"The only way out any of the doors was down the stairway, and we didn't want to take and traumatize children any further than that," Chief DeAndrea said.