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Luzerne County Man Injured in Shootout with Police

Luzerne County Man Injured in Shootout with Police - Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 5:49PM EST

Reported by: Kyla Campbell
Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 @ 05:49pm EST

SUGARLOAF TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY -- Eyewitness News had the only crew on-scene as a man kept his wife inside their home and shot at police.

State troopers say 61-year-old James Martuscelli of 10 Cindy Drive in Drums was seen in a wooded area between his home and a neighbor's house.

"When I saw him knelt down with the gun and shooting, it looked like he was aiming for something specific," said Ron Burger, Martuscelli's neighbor of nearly 25 years. "It was unsettling."

Burger says a neighbor yelled at Martuscelli to stop, and the shooter went inside his home. They also heard Martuscelli and his wife screaming at one another. At some point, 9-1-1 was called. Sugarloaf Township police arrived and called for back-up.

Police say Martuscelli fired several shots at them, and they returned fire -- bullet holes could be seen in the siding of his white house above his garage doors.

"I thought it was leftover fireworks," said a neighbor who didn't want to be identified. "But my neighbor called and said police were outside. I never heard so many shots."

Some witnesses say between 40 and 50 rounds were fired, but police didn't confirm any number. Police say Martuscelli was shot in his hand and abdomen but was expected to be okay. Charges are pending his mental and physical evaluation at Geisinger Wyoming Valley. His wife escaped unharmed.

Neighbors tell us police told them to stay in their basements or closets away from windows. Some hid for the entire three hour long standoff. The area was blocked off by police. Burger's teenage daughter wasn't allowed into the neighborhood and had to stay with friends in Conyngham.

A state police forensic team was at the Cindy Drive home Saturday morning and afternoon collecting evidence. Neighbors tell us they're glad nobody was seriously hurt or killed.

"It's unsettling and we're still nervous," said Burger. "But I think in a couple days, things will settle, and this will all just be a bad memory."

Some neighbors say police have been called to the Martuscelli home a handful of times. Court records show Martuscelli pled guilty to harrassment, involving kicking, striking, shoving, etc., in 2000.
 


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