Three arrested in Columbia Borough shooting Friday

Columbia police have charged three men with shooting into an occupied home, leading to a tense standoff with police Friday.

J'vian Mendez-Gonzalez, 18, of Lancaster, and Isaiah Diaz, 20, and Caelan Brown, 19, both of Columbia, are each charged with multiple felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure.

At 1:30 p.m. Friday, Columbia police were alerted to a report of multiple gunshots on the 400 block of Avenue K.

After arriving in the area, police said, investigators observed shell casings in the roadway and a home that had been struck by gunfire. Police confirmed the home had been occupied at the time, but no one was injured in the shooting.

Police said witnesses told investigators that several men had run from the 400 block of Avenue K to a house in the 200 block of South 4th Street.

Officers from Columbia and other police departments surrounded the area of the home and shut down traffic, according to a statement issued Friday evening. Police communicated with the individuals inside the home over a loudspeaker until they turned themselves over to police custody.

Five individuals were initially taken into custody Friday, although only three have been charged as of Saturday afternoon.

Mendez-Gonzalez had been arrested in August on felony kidnapping charges . He was released after posting $75,000 bail on Aug. 26. He is scheduled to be arraigned on those charges on Nov. 22.

Mendez-Gonzalez, Diaz and Brown remain in Lancaster County prison after being unable to post bail. Mendez-Gonzalez had his bail set at $500,000, while bail for Diaz and Brown was set at $250,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.