CARBONDALE -- State police and the district attorney's office are investigating a deadly shooting Tuesday night that involved an off-duty Carbondale police officer.
Family members say the man killed was Joseph Molinaro, 34, of Carbondale. They say he and his girlfriend were taking a shortcut home on Chestnut Avenue when he was shot twice.
According to sources with the city, the shooter is Carbondale police officer Frank Schulze.
The shooting happened around 9 p.m. Tuesday on Chestnut Avenue off of Belmont Street in Carbondale.
A neighbor tells us that the state police and FBI were on the scene throughout the night.
"It was the most horrific thing you ever seen. It was really, such a horrible, horrible thing to see."
Joanne Jordan says it was something she never thought she would see right outside her front door on Chestnut Avenue in Carbondale.
"There's this man standing here. He had a yellow jacket on and he's standing right here between the house and my car and he has the gun like this. He's yelling with the gun," Jordan recalled. "There's a girl and he's screaming at her, cursing at her, swearing at her, and she's going, 'Why did you shoot him? Why did you shoot him? I loved him! I loved him!'"
Jordan says she heard three shots and when she ran outside, she saw the shooter and the woman fighting and another man lying in the street.
Carbondale city officials say the shooter was an off-duty cop, Frank Shultz, a part-time officer since 2014 who is now on administrative leave.
The other man, Joseph Molinaro, 34, of Carbondale was killed. Family members say he suffered two wounds; one in the chest and one in the leg. Molinaro leaves behind three children and a large family that's left reeling.
"He was a very loving man, very loving father, that was Joe's role with us to keep us laughing, keep us smiling, and always had something quick to say," said Molinaro's stepbrother Troy Smith.
Smith said he and his family spent many hours following the shooting trying to piece together where Molinaro had been and what could have led a police officer to shoot him. They say they have not been contacted by investigators.
"It's not that hard to extend a hand and let us know, let us know that you're on top of it, that you're going to do what needs to be done so that this wrong is righted, however you can do that. My biggest emotion right now, I would have to say, would be disappointment."
Tylor Getz of Carbondale knows the victim's family and heard the news from Molinaro's nephew.
“He's like, 'Yeah, it was my uncle,' and I was like, 'Oh man.' I've know them since I was 8 years old. It's really sad,” said Getz.
State police and the Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office are heading up the investigation. They told us late Wednesday afternoon that they have found surveillance video that has helped them in their story and they have interviewed the police officer about the incident and he is cooperating.
But people here say having one of their officers involved in a deadly shooting doesn't look good for Carbondale's police department.
“It's his job to protect us, you understand what I'm saying to you?” said Ibn Miller.
“People are going to feel unsafe now, you know, guarantee a lot of people are going to go get their permits to carry to protect themselves,” said Getz.
No charges have been filed against Schulze at this time.
The investigation being handled by state police and the district attorney's office continues.
Molinaro's family had previously told us that Joseph was shot three times in the back. Investigators say that's not true. He was shot in the chest and the leg.
Their investigation of the shooting and what may have led to it is ongoing.