Two Teens Charged with Trying to Kill Police Officers

"I was shooting at you."

8.1.2016

On Friday, two teens were arrested for attempting to kill police officers in Columbia, Pennsylvania. No one was hurt following the incident.

It’s unclear whether the two suspects were trying to draw in police officers with the shots, Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said. But, he said, once the firing started, there’s no indication that they were attempting to hit anyone else.

The two suspects, one 17-years-old and the other 18, both of Columbia, are each charged with four counts of attempted criminal homicide of a law enforcement officer and related offenses. They are each being held in Lancaster County jail on $2 million bail.

"There's absolutely no question, with incidents like this and incidents that we've seen in the recent past, recent history, is that we — as a nation — are fighting for our soul: the soul of our community, and the soul of our country," Stedman said.

Early Friday morning police responded to a call about shots being fired. Once the officer arrived at the scene, he came under gunfire. The gunfire continued for more than 30 minutes. Another officer arrived at the scene and also was shot at, along with other first responders.

One of the suspects told the police: "I was shooting at you." The teen also used explicatives towards the police.

Stedman said it's “not just rhetoric anymore.” Police officers, he said, “literally are the force that stands between order, justice, civilization and a land of laws — and a land of anarchy and chaos."

“These men and women, these police officers, have made the commitment to serve, to protect the community, to protect all of us,” he said. “They've made the commitment, while the rest of us run from danger, to run toward danger."