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Police Standoff Streamed Live on Facebook

SCRANTON — A man was arrested following an all-night standoff that some people watched live on social media. Police swarmed Cedar Avenue on Scranton’...
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SCRANTON -- A man was arrested following an all-night standoff that some people watched live on social media.

Police swarmed Cedar Avenue on Scranton's south side after a man's family called 911 worried he might hurt himself. Police say he had a shotgun and swords in the house.

During those hours, one man streamed portions of the police activity live on Facebook.

SWAT teams and the bomb squad were all called to the home around 2 a.m. Sunday after that man sent out texts that left his family worried about his safety.

Neighbors feared the worst.

“I was scared. My mom just told me to go up to my room and sit there. We heard like gun shots,” said Shannon Ryan of Scranton.

Officers fired tear gas into the home.

By mid-morning, police found the man hiding in the attic. They cuffed him and led him into an ambulance for a trip to the hospital.

“I am just glad nobody got hurt, no fire, no gun fire, and everybody is safe,” Amy Ryan of Scranton said.

While neighbors on Cedar Avenue watched what was going on, some people were also watching on their cell phones and computers because one man was streaming the scene live on Facebook.

Complete with commentary, Marcus Martinez streamed more than an hour of the action including two SWAT team members standing on an awning entering the home’s second floor.

Warning: This video contains some graphic language.

Some neighbors wondered if the target of the raid, hiding in the attic, might be watching the live feed, too.

“Showing them what they are doing, which side of the house they are going into, what doors they are entering, what tools they have. That should never be allowed,” said John Gilhooley of Scranton.

Gilhooley believes police should be able to stop citizen journalists from broadcasting at sensitive crime scenes.

“I think in a SWAT vehicle, there should be a cell phone blocker. If you are driving into a live crime scene, why not have a cell phone blocker where they cannot broadcast out?”

Police in Scranton tell Newswatch 16 if someone is broadcasting live video from a standoff, officers can only request that they stop.

“We can ask them, but we cannot force them to stop live streaming,” said Captain Dennis Lukasewicz, Scranton Police Department.

That means officers safety could be in the hands of anyone with a cell phone.

Newswatch 16 spoke with Marcus Martinez. He said he wasn't really thinking about whether the target of the standoff might be watching his live video. He just wanted to show people what was going on.

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