There are many ways to use Facebook, and an armed man in Salt Lake City, Utah, found one more. At 36-years-of-age, Jason Valdez used his Facebook account in a way that I’m pretty sure Facebook’s creators never intended for it to be used.

Valdez kept friends and family updated about the predicament he found himself facing (the SWAT Team) after taking a woman hostage. The standoff lasted about 16 hours, and many a Facebook update was posted not only by the armed man, but by his friends and family too.

If you want to read all of the posts made by Valdez, visit Mashable. [Warning: graphic language is used by Valdez and his friends and family.]

The first time I saw the headline posted by a friend, I thought it was a joke. Then when my Mashable newsfeed showed, it, the story had wheels and I wanted to hop on and see what there was to see. So let’s take a look at the highlights:

• The gunman’s name is Jason Valdez, 36 years of age
• According to the Associated Press, “is no stranger to the law”
• Valdez’s convictions include aggravated assault and domestic violence in front of a child, a child and he has a pending felony drug charge which is what kicked the whole shebang off
• After police tried to serve Valdez with a felony drug warrant for a missed court appearance, he took a female hostage
• The situation occurred at a local motel, Western Colony Inn, and the standoff lasted 16 hours
• Valdez communicated with friends and family through Facebook by posting status messages and pictures
• One of Valdez’s friends was kind enough to reply back that a SWAT member was hiding outside in a bush
• During the standoff with SWAT officers, Valdez made six posts and according to police, “at least a dozen new friends” (not sure what that says about us as a society)
• A total of 100 response comments were made at Valdez’s Facebook account during the standoff, as well
• The first Facebook status message posted during the situation from Valdez, “I’m currently in a standoff … kinda ugly, but ready for whatever,” Valdez wrote in his first post at 11:23 p.m. “I love u guyz and if I don’t make it out of here alive that I’m in a better place and u were all great friends.” [As posted by the AP]
• Valdez even posted a picture of himself and his hostage, Veronica, whom he referred to as his “hostage”

In the end, Valdez refused to reason and come to terms with the SWAT team. He claimed that he was about to let the hostage go, when his friends alerted him of SWAT movement and the cycle began again. About 90 minutes passed before SWAT made their way to Valdez and took control of the situation. He shot himself in the chest, but at this time is still alive. Valdez will be facing new charges on top of the ones he’s already facing, and police are determining whether to charge his friends who posted SWAT updates on Valdez’s Facebook. Charges could also be brought against one of Valdez’s friends who encouraged Valdez to fire at police.