Columbia comes together on National Night Out

Columbia Borough celebrated its 4th annual National Night Out on Tuesday, August 2, 2016. The community came together for some much-needed healing after recent events.
 Lots of free hot dogs!
(Unidentified personage in the background)

 Always a hit, Jack Hubley wowed the crowd with a variety of critters

 including this well-fed rat snake.

 Councilwoman Steph Weisser tried on a protective suit used by the Lancaster County Prison K-9 Unit.

 Lancaster County Prison K-9 Unit on the hunt for the bad guy.

Bad guy encountered

TAKEDOWN!

APPREHENDED!

 Bad guy being escorted

 Long line for the horse rides

 Off and running – or at least walking

 Union encampment equipped for a little git-fiddle music.

 Firefighters beating up a Camry in preparation for a rescue demo using the Jaws of Life

Cutting up

 Columbia resident Angel Rodriguez and Officer Brent Keyser

Mom of teen charged in shooting blames Black Lives Matter

The mother of a teen charged in Friday’s shooting blames the organization Black Lives Matter for the actions of the teen and his accomplice.
“They are in jail for doing what Black Lives Matter wanted them to do: shoot at cops,” Luz Rentas said in a statement to several media outlets, Associated Press reported. “The truth is that these are two punk kids following the orders of an irresponsible organization and now they’re gonna pay for it.“
BLM rejects the claim.

Shooter rifle identified

According to an LNP article, District Attorney Craig Stedman has identified the rifle used in Friday’s shooting as a Savage Model 11 .22-250 bolt action rifle with a scope (similar to the one shown above).

The type of ammunition used in the rifle is described below:




The Australian Special Air Service Regiment used Tikka M55 sniper rifles chambered in .22-250 for urban terrorism duties in the 1980s, in an attempt to reduce excessive penetration and ricochets.[8]

Community leaders stand in solidarity to denounce violence

Community leaders led by the NAACP, including church leaders and local law enforcement officials, stood in solidarity outside Mount Zion AME Church on Tuesday to denounce violence in the community, in response to Friday’s shooting incident in which police officers were allegedly targeted.

Those attending included Blanding Watson, Lancaster County chapter president of the NAACP; Reverend Patricia McAllister of Mount Zion AME; the Reverend Charles Deutsch, pastor for Ironville United Methodist Church and head of the Columbia ministerium; Columbia Borough Police Chief Jack Brommer, and Officers Brent Keyser and Troy Engle.

Columbia woman charged with three counts of retail theft

Rhonda Lynn Diehl
Rhonda Lynn Diehl, 44, of Columbia was charged with three counts of retail theft after several recent incidents at Musser’s Market in Columbia. 
On Monday, July 25, 2016, Diehl took items from the store and went out through a cashier lane that was not opened. Police identified her through surveillance footage. On Wednesday, July 27, police were called back to Musser’s for another retail theft involving the same person. Diehl fled from the store by going out the entrance as someone entered the store prior to police arrival. On July 28, Diehl had sixteen items in her purse and attempted to apply for a job. A source tells the Spy that store personnel set up a fake job interview to detain her until police arrived. 
Diehl was picked up by police that day in the store and was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Miles Bixler.