In Utah, police were engaged in a standoff with the above Facebook user, Jason Valdez, who sent status updates during the standoff. The engagement ended with Valdez shooting himself in the chest as a SWAT team raided the motel room in which he was taking refuge. Valdez is in critical condition at a hospital, but is expecte to survive. Various reports claim it was a hostage situation because a woman was in the room with him, but based on the status updates, the woman seemed to be with him under her own volition.
Valdez posted pictures of his “hostage,” and she doesn’t look quite like someone held there against her will:
Valdez updated his status six times during the standoff, as well as added fifteen new friends and responded to comments regarding his situation. A few people communicating with Valdez on Facebook alerted him to police movements outside of the motel. The situation began when police attempted to serve Valdez with a felony warrant for not appearing in court on a drug-related charge.
Updating your status during a police raid: A sign of the times?
