New York Daily News
(TNS)
Investigators have recovered the bodies of three of six occupants presumed dead after a house fire ripped through a Philadelphia-area home where a gunman also shot and wounded two police officers, officials announced.
All of the dead — three adults and three children — are believed to be members of the Le family, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said. He noted that the bodies so far recovered have been sent off to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.
“We’ve recovered three bodies total from the house. One is the person we think was shooting at police officers because there was a rifle recovered with that body,” Stollsteimer said. “And then there were two more. Looks like, might be a child, and then might be another, either a child or someone relatively young.”
Stollsteimer added the search for victims would continue Friday but warned the recovery process would likely be lengthy.
Authorities responded to the residence in East Lansdowne around 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, after police received a 911 call regarding the potential shooting of an 11-year-old girl. When officers arrived on the scene, a person inside the three-story home, identified by family members as 43-year-old Canh Le, allegedly opened fire, striking two responding officers.
David Schiazza, who has been with the Lansdowne Police Department for 22 years, was shot in the leg. He has since been released from Penn Presbyterian Hospital. Officer John Meehan was meanwhile struck in the arm. His wound required surgery and he remains hospitalized, police said.
About 15 minutes after the shooting, the home went up in flames, and the blaze raged on for hours as crews struggled to contain the fire.
Le’s mother, Chin Le, told Action News that she heard her son having an argument with his 13-year-old niece and threatened to get his gun moments before the violent chaos. Both Chin Le and her husband, the person who phoned 911, exited the home when the gunfire first broke out, she said.
She added that her other son, Xuong Le, and his wife, Britni McLaughlin-Le, along with their three children, NaKayla, 13, NaTayla, 17, and Xavier, 10 were still inside the home when the fire started. Their causes of death have not yet been revealed.
“Britni and Xuoug were a happily married couple for 17 years, loving and devoted parents to their three children, their extended family, and their beloved friends,” the McLaughlin family said in a statement.
“Our hearts are broken and we vow to cherish the memories of our loved ones and we will work to ensure that their legacies live on.”
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