[LNP | LancasterOnline] Police charge gunman in Columbia standoff last week

The Columbia man who barricaded himself in a home last week, resulting in an hours long standoff, said he shot toward a police dog to scare it and told police he had guns and ammunition when he refused to come out, according to police.

Police charged Charles Nathan Harris, 40, on Tuesday with two counts of aggravated assault, along with charges related to shooting at the police dog, endangering other people and two firearms violations, according to charging documents.

Around 10:30 a.m. Friday, Columbia Borough police and officers with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office went to 325 Cherry St. to serve an arrest warrant for Harris for a gun law violation. Online court records show Harris was charged last January with illegal possession of a gun.

Police said in charging documents Harris was with a woman in the house, and though she came out, Harris refused.

Officers then sent a sheriff’s K-9, Ragnar, into the first floor, and Harris began shooting at it, police said. Ragnar’s handler called him outside, and Harris barricaded himself inside. Ragnar was not hit.

MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/police-charge-gunman-in-columbia-standoff-last-week/article_8a503488-b01d-11ee-b657-3b4e3609b6bd.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

Columbia Spy photos and information on Friday’s Cherry Street incident

Several law enforcement agencies apprehended a gunman who had barricaded himself in a building on the 300 block of Cherry Street in Columbia on Friday.

The man, identified by Columbia Borough Police as Charles N. Harris, was wanted on a weapons violation warrant and is currently in custody, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, which is conducting an investigation into the incident.

Law enforcement agencies responded to the incident at about 11 a.m. Friday. The man was apprehended shortly after 1 p.m. Officers used a loudspeaker several times to urge the man to surrender before apprehending him. 

During the incident, some residents on the 300 block of Cherry Street were evacuated from their homes, and officers prevented one resident from reentering his home for several hours after he stepped outside his front door. Park Elementary School was placed on lockdown, as was Our Lady of the Angels Catholic School on Cherry and Fourth Streets.

Snipers were stationed on nearby rooftops. Officers expanded the perimeter several times during the event, and a K-9 unit was deployed. The suspect fired his gun but did not injure anyone, including the K-9.

Agencies responding included Columbia Borough, Manheim Borough, West Hempfield Township, East Hempfield, Susquehanna Regional, Ephrata Township, Pennsylvania State Police, Lancaster County SERT, and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department.

(More details will be posted as they become available.)

Judge drops attempted homicide charges in 2021 assault on Columbia man; attacker committed to state hospital

Michael A. Newport

A Lancaster County judge dropped attempted homicide and related charges against a man charged in a 2021 assault that fractured a Columbia man’s skull after determining the attacker will likely remain incompetent for some time.

Judge Thomas Sponaugle also on Wednesday ordered Michael Newport, 39, be involuntarily committed to Wernersville State Hospital in Berks County, where he will undergo involuntary treatment and yearly evaluations to determine whether he becomes competent. 

The judge found Newport, who was homeless at the time of the attack, a danger to himself and others if released. 

Newport was charged with attempted homicide, burglary and aggravated assault after police said he walked in through the back door of the victim’s home on July 8, 2021, chased the man around and beat him, breaking his skull.

MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/judge-drops-2021-attempted-homicide-charges-man-committed-to-state-hospital/article_66a16250-aa6e-11ee-a376-ab85335693ec.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share