Neighbors React After Search Warrant For Sexual Assault Led To Swat Standoff In Delmont
DELMONT, Pa. (KDKA) -- Authorities identified the man involved in a SWAT standoff in Delmont.
The Westmoreland County Medical Examiner said the man who shot himself when police surrounded his home on West Pine Street was 56-year-old Richard S. Franco of Delmont.
According to Delmont Police, they were executing a search warrant Saturday on Franco's house for an investigation into a sexual assault.
They said it happened at the house earlier in the day.
When police arrived around 5:10 p.m., they heard gunfire from inside the house.
"They came running through our yard," neighbor Allen Parsons said.
Police set up a perimeter and called the State Police Special Emergency Response Team.
When the team arrived, they tried to talk with Franco inside, but he never answered or came outside.
"It's like everybody says. It never happens in our neighborhood," next-door neighbor Joy Beehner said.
An officer used Beehner's house to get a better vantage point on Franco.
"They had a rifleman come down and placed himself at this window right here," she said as she pointed to her second-floor window.
Parsons and his wife could not get back to their house Saturday night. They left as the situation started to unfold.
Police said fire crews shut down parts of Route 66 for public safety.
"We ended up going to a motel last night to stay because the whole place was shut down," he said from his front porch.
Other neighbors said the police went through the back door of the house they said Franco rented.
When police went inside, they found that Franco was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
"Just thinking about what had happened, it was very sad," Beehner said.
She said Franco lived there for a few years, and up until recently, his girlfriend was living there as well.
"They were just very nice people. I don't know what was going on," Beehner said.
Police said they fired no gunshots during the six-hour situation.
According to court records, Franco faced rape charges, aggravated assault, and terroristic threats.
