On 12-09-25 at approx. 10:14am the Columbia Borough Police responded to the 200 blk. of Walnut St. for a possible overdose call. Police units arrived on scene and discovered a deceased male inside a residence. Upon further investigation it was found that the deceased male was involved with a shots fired incident that occurred on 12-09-25 at approx. 1:16am in the same block where several vehicles and a home were struck by gunfire. The incident is still under investigation, but there is no known danger to the public at this time.

UPDATE- 12/23/25:

A Columbia man believed to have been responsible for firing a gun on a residential borough street earlier this month died of a suspected drug overdose before police could respond.

Christopher Colon-Martinez, 31, was seen on surveillance footage firing the handgun numerous times in multiple directions while running near his home in the 200 block of Wanut Street during the early morning hours of Dec. 9. By the time police arrived at his residence hours later Colon-Martinez had died.

Though the toxicology results of an autopsy are still pending, Columbia Borough police had been called to Colon-Martinez’s residence hours after the shots were fired for a report of a man suffering from a suspected drug overdose. Officers found Colon-Martinez deceased in his home around 10:13 a.m. with no life-threatening traumatic injuries found on his body.

Surveillance footage from local businesses and residences showed Colon-Martinez with a handgun running throughout the 200 block of Walnut Street, both on the sidewalk and in the street around 12:54 a.m. Colon-Martinez could be seen on the footage firing numerous shots in multiple directions before entering his residence where he was later found deceased.

A firearm was also recovered at Colon-Martinez’s residence that matched the caliber of spent shell casings that were recovered in the 200 block of Walnut Street. Further testing of the firearm and the spent shell casings is pending.

Patrol officers had been dispatched to the 200 block of Walnut Street hours earlier around 1:16 a.m. for a report of shots being fired but did not encounter anyone at the scene or evidence of a weapon having been fired. A single caller had reported that several suspected gunshots had been heard about 15 minutes before the 911 call.

Later in the morning, around 7:10 a.m., patrol officers received several calls from residents in the area stating that their vehicles had apparently been struck by gunfire. Officers documented the damage and collected several spent shell casings from various locations within the 200 block of Walnut Street.

Then, around 10:13 a.m., police were again called to the same block, this time for a welfare check at Colon-Martinez’s residence. Detectives were also dispatched to the scene due to the proximity of Colon-Martinez’s home to the previous shots-fired call.

Colon-Martinez underwent an autopsy the following day at the Lancaster County Forensic Center. The coroner’s determination of cause and manner of death are still pending at this time.

There is no immediate danger to the public at this time.

Anyone with information related to this investigation is encouraged to contact Columbia Police Detective Matt Leddy at 717-684-7735, ext. 7210.