EAST LANSDOWNE, PA – A horrific incident involving a house fire and shooting has resulted in the presumed death of six members of the Le family, three of whom have been confirmed dead, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. The tragedy has also resulted in injuries to two police officers.
Authorities have begun to sift through the ash and remnants of the Le’s Lewis Avenue residence and have found three severely burned bodies and a rifle. Stollsteimer stated that one of the recovered bodies, likely the shooter, was found with a rifle and the other two bodies appear to be either young adults or children.
The three bodies have since been sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsies. The search operation was halted for the day on Thursday, with plans to resume on Friday, Stollsteimer explained.
The members of the Le family- three adults and three children- residing in the burned-out house are believed to be deceased. Among the family members named are Britni McLaughlin-Le, Xuong Le, and their children Natalya, Nakayla, and Xavier, aged 17, 13, and 10 respectively.
The horrific event occurred on Wednesday afternoon when an argument allegedly sparked between the son and niece of the grandparents, followed by gunfire. The grandparents managed to escape the house and alert the police, who arrived at the scene to an immediate hail of bullets from the gunman inside the house.
East Lansdowne Police Officer John Meehan aged 44, and Lansdowne Police Officer David Schiazza aged 54, were the main responders, and both were shot and injured. Officers from the Upper Darby Police Department managed to extract the injured officers and transport them to Penn Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia, saving their lives.
The gunman is believed to have purposely set the house ablaze after shooting the officers. Firefighters were initially unable to combat the flames due to the ongoing active shooting.
Firefighters and law enforcement will resume their search for the remaining family members on Friday. Meanwhile, the community grieves this massive loss and awaits answers on what led to this tragic incident.