Two Columbia teenagers used a scoped "sniper rifle" in an attempt to gun down police officers in an early Friday morning shooting in the borough, officials said at a press conference Saturday.

“By the grace of God, we are not having a press conference today about multiple homicides, multiple deaths of police officers,” Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said Saturday in Columbia Borough Council chambers.

“The focus was to kill police officers,” he said. “The last couple of days in Lancaster County are some of the darkest days we’ve had in our justice system, for our police officers, that I can recall.”

Marquell Robert Rentas, 17, of 244 Walnut St., and Trenton Michael Nace, 18, of 116 Lancaster Ave., were arraigned Saturday morning on multiple charges of attempted homicide of a law-enforcement officer, aggravated assault, assault of a law-enforcement officer and counts of conspiracy to commit each of those crimes, Stedman said. Both teens were charged as adults.

“We have two young men who are charged with attempting to kill multiple police officers in the line of duty,” Stedman said. He called the attack “senseless, chilling.”

Rentas admitted shooting at officers during the arrest, according to the affidavit. He made it clear, Stedman said, that his intention was to kill police.

The teens were arraigned Saturday morning before District Judge Stuart Mylin. Bail was set at $2 million each.

If convicted on all first-degree felony counts, Stedman said, each suspect could serve life in prison.

Authorities cautioned residents in parts of downtown Columbia to stay in their homes as dozens of police officers searched for the gunman Friday morning. No one was reported injured, police said.

Rentas is believed to have been the shooter throughout the incident, which began with a call of shots fired at about 3:25 a.m. and continued in intermittent bursts until about 4:10, Stedman said. Nace, he said, was an accomplice, keeping Rentas — his cousin, according to initial reports — supplied with bullets and collecting empty shell casings.

Police were the target

According to Stedman, the first shots were reported in the first block of Bethel Street in Columbia. It’s unknown what the target was, he said; it’s possible it was a ruse to lure police to the scene.

Police officers, he said, were the intended victims all along, according to statements made by Rentas after his arrest.

Officers from other jurisdictions quickly responded to the scene, Stedman said. Initially, he said, police didn’t know where the shots were coming from.

At no point did police return fire, he said.

But, he said, police in this case, “as they always do, went toward the danger — to help their fellow officers.”

The two teens were arrested at 103 Bethel St., in a house owned by Rentas’s aunt, after Rentas was identified by police as a possible suspect, Stedman said.

“They were taken into custody without incident,” he said.

The Rentas family, he added, cooperated fully with police, even providing officers with a key so they could gain admission to the house.

Shooting from window

The teens were found in an upstairs bedroom, where Rentas is believed to have been shooting from the window.

“We’re not 100 percent sure that all the shots were fired from that room,” Stedman said.

It’s possible, he said, that the suspects also fired from within Mount Bethel Cemetery, which is adjacent to the home where they were arrested.

Five to 10 spent shell casings were recovered from Nace’s pockets and from the floor in the room, Stedman said.

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The rifle, Stedman said, “appears to be some type of a sniper rifle.” It fires a small caliber “but extremely high-velocity projectile,” he said, and is considered “extremely deadly.”

The weapon was owned by Rentas’s aunt, “legally purchased and possessed,” Stedman said. However, he said, Rentas is not licensed, and he also faces a charge of possession of a firearm by a minor.

Police also found a box for a handgun at the scene, Stedman said. The handgun itself was not recovered.

Ongoing investigation

Stedman said the facts in the case “are incomplete at this point. It’s definitely an ongoing investigation.”

There is no indication that anyone besides Rentas and Nace were involved in the shooting, Stedman said, despite reports Friday that three people were in custody.

He hesitated when asked if the shooting was related in any way to an incident Wednesday night in which police officers in Lancaster were fired upon.

“There will be more answers” next week, Stedman said.

However, Stedman became visibly agitated while discussing the culture that is making incidents such as this almost commonplace.

“It’s not just that they’re emboldened to shoot at police officers,” Stedman said. “They feel justified. Righteous.”

Thin blue line

“We have a country where somebody can just pick up a sniper rifle and open fire at police,” Stedman said. “We need to do better as a country.”

Although he declined to discuss the “specific triggers” for Rentas and Nace, Stedman said civilization would collapse without the “thin blue line” of police to protect it.

“We cannot tolerate acts like this,” he said. “Imagine for a day ... that police aren’t going to show up tomorrow. Imagine what happens in your community. Are you going to go to work? Are you going to take your kids to school?

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“Let’s say police aren’t going to show up for work for a week. Or a month. What happens to our country?”

Everybody, Stedman said, “needs to be outraged at what’s going on in our country, and how we’re being torn apart. ... It’s unbelievable to me that I have to sit up here as district attorney and make these sorts of comments.”

Preliminary hearing set

A preliminary hearing for Rentas and Nace is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 25 before District Judge Miles Bixler.

Rentas, Stedman noted, had failed to appear for at least six juvenile court reviews for prior charges, and the district attorney complained that there was no warrant issued for his arrest.

Also at the press conference, Columbia Borough police Chief Jack Brommer thanked the “many, many law enforcement agencies” from Lancaster and York counties that responded to the active shooter incident.

Besides Columbia, Brommer said, officers were on the scene from Lancaster and York county SERT, state police, and the West Hempfield Township, Northwest Regional, Manor Township, East Hempfield Township, Susquehanna Regional, Mount Joy Borough, Manheim Borough, Lancaster city, Manheim Township and East Cocalico Township police departments.