Arrest affidavits obtained by The Gazette reveal that Saturday’s standoff suspect livestreamed the nearly four-hour altercation and ended with him using two young children as human shields. 

Authorities arrested Antonio Mellon, 23, Saturday after a bizarre string of events, including his alleged impersonation of a federal immigration agent and using 2-year-old twins as a human shield. 

It all started at DashMart, a store dedicated to DoorDash deliveries, located at 1605 North Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs, on Friday. 

Mellon was picking up an order from DashMart at 10:45 a.m., wearing a black face mask with a holstered semi-automatic gun outside of his pants, the affidavit states. 

When an employee approached Mellon, telling him that weapons were not allowed in the store, Mellon allegedly showed a fraudulent Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge, with a name that did not match his, according to the affidavit. 

By 11:49 a.m., Mellon’s DoorDash account had been deactivated, the affidavit states. Within 24 hours, Colorado Springs police obtained an arrest warrant on charges of impersonating a police officer.

When police showed up to Mellon’s home in the 1300 block of Burnham Street on Saturday morning with an arrest warrant in his name, Mellon barricaded himself in the house and began documenting his barricade on Instagram stories. 

Arrest affidavits state that Mellon posted at least eight stories, several of which depicted a gun with a laser tip pointed at officers situated outside of his house. 

At one point, Mellon livestreamed on Instagram, during which he “ranted nonsensically” while waving a gun in a bedroom with two young children in it, the affidavit states. 

Nearly four hours of Instagram posts later, Mellon’s cellphone died, and he began to negotiate with police, saying he was scared to exit the home because he felt he was going to be shot. The affidavit states that eventually, he walked out of the house with both young children in his arms.

Mellon faces five felony charges, including child abuse and impersonating a peace officer. His next court appearance is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 5.