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Pocono News Section
Man Arrested in Central PA May Be Tied to Scranton Shooting
Man Arrested in Central PA May Be Tied to Scranton Shooting - Monday, March 16, 2009 at 5:40PM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Mar 16, 2009 @ 05:40pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- A man arrested Monday morning in Central Pennsylvania may be responsible for a weekend shooting in Scranton.
Joseph Olecki was arrested Monday morning in Blair County. Now, Scranton detectives are heading there to see if he's responsible for shooting a married couple.
Olecki has ties to the Scranton area. He grew up in South Side and still has family there. What's unsettling to neighbors is what cops found in his car when he was taken into custody.
Scranton police are calling him a "person of interest" in Sunday night's double shooting that injured Michael and Lindsay Ross on Beech Street. A total of four shots were fired. Both of the victims are expected to survive.
Michael Elysee lives right across the street. He was shocked to hear Olecki had several stolen assault rifles, pipe bombs and thousands of rounds of ammunition on him at the time of his arrest. “He could have really done a lot of damage if he started shooting, like a rampage shooting. He could have hurt a lot of people," said Elysee.
Right now, Olecki is only charged with shooting up his ex-girlfriend's house in Logan Township Saturday, but that could change. Scranton Police Captain Carl Graziano said, “There's some similar characteristics in the shooting in Altoona and the shooting here in Scranton."
Cops say Olecki had a connection to this South Scranton shooting scene. He grew up right next door in this house at 526 Beech Street. Some of his family members still live there. They didn't want to comment. Neighbor Jessica Manning said, “It’s just terrible that things are coming to this."
As investigators try to connect all the evidence and figure out a motive, neighbors are focused on the couple's kids. “It’s a shame too that two children had to witness it. Now they're gonna have to carry on with their lives and know that they witnessed that," added Manning.
Investigators spent most of Monday back at Beech Street. As our cameras got a closer look at the victim's property we found swastikas and a shooting target inside the victim's shed.
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