Victim identified
In a recent release, the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Christopher Colon Martinez, 31, of Columbia Borough.
The coroner said police believe Martinez was involved in the shots-fired incident; however, he had no gun-related injuries.
An autopsy performed on Wednesday morning revealed “no suspicious findings,” according to the coroner’s release.
The cause and manner of Martinez’s death are pending the results of toxicology testing.
NATHAN WILLISON | Staff Writer
Police and the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office responded to an incident Tuesday morning that shut down the 200 block of Walnut Street in Columbia.
Residents in the area reported that police shut down Walnut Street at its intersection with North Third Street Tuesday morning after a number of cars and homes were struck by gunfire. A member of the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office was seen arriving in the area.
William Vandenberg, a resident of the block, told an LNP | LancasterOnline reporter at the scene that he heard multiple people arguing in the street below his home around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday followed by gunfire.
“I just froze. It was about five of them,” said Vandenberg referring to gunshots. “I saw a patrol car pass by later but that was it.”
Vandenberg said he learned from a coworker that police were shutting down his block late Tuesday morning and returned home to find evidence markers just a few steps from his front door.
“I worry about having my son here,” Vandenberg said. “We normally just stay inside. I don’t like it, but Columbia just seems to be getting worse and worse.”
Another resident of the block, Misty Musser, said she learned Tuesday morning that the outside of her home was an active crime scene when her roommate called her.
Musser reported she and her roommate heard banging the night before, but thought at the time it was someone hammering into a wall.
Musser said at least four of her neighbors’ vehicles were struck by gunfire and an unknown number of homes on Walnut Street also were struck.
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This week’s photos of Columbia
Click on photos to see larger, sharper images.
JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
Santa visited early on Barber Street.
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Columbia got a coating of snow on Tuesday.
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Work continues at the Von Hess building.
The backstory is HERE.
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Strange cloud—or a leftover jet trail
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Workers, properly tethered, at the Chip Factory hotel project
That’s one way to make insulated glass.
Clever use of an oil can, but it still won’t hold oil.
Nativity scene with Santa
The former Visitors Center has turned lavender.
A skeleton fighting for its life(?) in Mountville
Nutcrackers on Walnut
Holy Trinity Catholic Church
Blessing Box on Walnut
Snowflake in the daytime
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Meanwhile at McGinness: What all is in that pile of junk?
The project was originally expected to be done by Thanksgiving, but a source now says the completion date is likely “by Christmas.”
Did they find something?
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On Friday morning, the prefab bathroom was delivered to Makle Park, as Columbia Spy reported HERE.
It took the flatbed driver a couple of tries, but he was eventually able to maneuver the truck into Avenue N from 5th Street.
The building finally came to rest in Makle, after being lifted by crane.
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This trolley is parked at the former Visitors Center at Linden Street.
[Photo: Todd Stahl]
Columbia’s favorite cow at the Turkey Hill Experience
[Photo: Todd Stahl]
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Chris Vera
[Columbia Spy file photo]
The following information is excerpted from a December 6, 2025 LNP Watchdog article by LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Jade Campos.
Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he was banned indefinitely from borough property.
The letter gave no reason for the ban.
Nine months later, Vera, who has served as president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society for more than a decade and has helped with the borough’s comprehensive plan, is still banned from borough property. He believes the ban includes borough parks, which is part of the reason he moved his annual Albatwitch Day festival, which celebrates the myth of a local cryptid, to Wrightsville.
Vera said he’s not sure why the borough went to such lengths to keep him away from public spaces given his termination from the borough seemed, for the most part, polite and amicable.
March 12, 2025 LETTER OF NO TRESPASS from borough solicitor Evan M. Gabel, provided to Columbia Spy by Chris Vera
The letter attributed Vera’s firing to “performance concerns.” Since then, borough officials have said that the Market House is not generating enough income to justify a full-time manager while also holding events, which Vera said made up a large part of his work at the Market House.
The decision to issue a blanket banning across all public property to a former employee puts Columbia in a legal gray area, according to some experts.
Calls to borough solicitor Evan Gabel were not returned.
Despite being a standard practice in the borough, how officials decide which employees will be banned from public properties appears to be somewhat arbitrary.
The Watchdog attempted to obtain a copy of the borough’s policy outlining the reasons an employee would be banned from its property. The borough declined the request, claiming no such policy existed. LNP | LancasterOnline appealed the borough’s denial, which was ultimately upheld by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, confirming the borough does not have a formal policy on banning employees.
Borough Council members in June also stated there is no official policy for banning former employees. Michelle Jenkins, a former finance manager whom the borough let go in May, after Vera’s termination, has not been banned from borough property.
“This is not unusual, but it is unconstitutional,” [Attorney Sara] Rose said. “There has to be due process.”
The full LNP article can be read HERE.
Columbia Spy posted a letter from Chris Vera to friends and supporters of the Columbia Market House HERE.
Citizens spoke in support of Chris Vera HERE.
Columbia Spy posted a March 31, 2025 article on the banning HERE.
Columbia Spy 