LEWISTON – Pastor Paul McLaughlin was greeted Wednesday morning by a sight he never expected to see: bullet holes in a van used by the homeless shelter he operates at Lincoln and Cedar streets.

Police say the shots came from a pair of teenagers they caught firing a .22-caliber rifle the night before. Both of those men remained jailed Wednesday on charges of aggravated reckless conduct with a firearm.

For McLaughlin, beholding the sight of his bullet-riddled van brought about chills. In addition to three glaring holes in the body of the vehicle, a side window had been shot out.

“That’s the window where my granddaughter sits,” the pastor said. “I kind of take it personally. They shot out the window, and then they put more into it.”

Police believe it is unlikely that the shots that struck the Hope Haven van were the result of errant bullets. The precision of the shooting, they said, led them to believe the vehicle was intentionally targeted by the men accused of opening fire in the heavily traveled area around Cedar and Lincoln streets.

“It was obviously a reckless and stupid thing to do,” said police department Deputy Chief Michael Bussiere. “Someone could have been killed because of it.”

There was no immediate indication that McLaughlin or the shelter were targeted specifically, although police were unsure why the two men fired shots. Investigators were attempting to determine Wednesday how many shots had been fired.

Samuel Warner and Daniel Chamberland, both 18 and living in Lewiston, were arrested by police who searched the area for a half-hour before the pair were captured.

Police who arrested the men said they are familiar with Warner but they could not discuss previous dealings with him because he was a juvenile at the time.

After all available police officers responded Tuesday night, gunshots were still heard from the wooded area behind the Country Kitchen buildings on Canal Street.

“It’s all kind of crazy,” McLaughlin said.

Nobody was struck by gunfire Tuesday night, but a homeless man who had been sleeping when the shots rang out was hospitalized for heart problems. He was treated at Central Maine Medical Center and later released.

Warner was being held at the Androscoggin County Jail on Wednesday night on $2,500 cash bail. Chamberland was jailed on $1,000 bail. Both men are expected to make initial court appearances Thursday.

Meanwhile, McLaughlin’s van was in a body shop having bullet holes removed from the body and the window replaced. The pastor was driving a rental and reflecting on how it could have been worse.

“Nobody got hurt, and the guys who did it were caught,” he said. “It’s a good day.”