What to Know
- Six family members are believed to be dead and three bodies were recovered following a house fire and shooting that wounded two officers in East Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.
- Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Thursday that the three adults and three children were members of the Le family. Investigators also found a rifle inside the home.
- Lansdowne Police Officer David Schiazza, 54, and East Lansdowne Police Officer John Meehan, 44, were both injured in the shooting. Officer Schiazza was released from the hospital on Thursday.
Editor's Note (Feb. 9, 2024, 8:14 a.m.): This story is no longer being updated. For details on the investigation into the killings and more about the victims from the Le family, click here.
Three children and three adults are presumed dead and three bodies were recovered following a house fire and shooting that wounded two police officers in East Lansdowne, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer announced.
Investigators entered the home on Lewis Avenue on Thursday and recovered three badly burned bodies as well as a rifle, Stollsteimer said.
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"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.”
The three bodies were sent to the Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
Stollsteimer said shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday that the search was over for the day and would resume on Friday.
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Earlier in the day, Stollsteimer cautioned that the recovery process would be lengthy.
"This is going to take awhile. OK? We're going to be very safe," he said. "This is a recovery operation. There's nobody alive inside that burned out hulk of a house."
A 'loving' family torn apart
Stollsteimer said the six members of the "Le family" resided in the home and are all believed to be dead. He did not reveal their full names but said they were three adults and three children.
However, the family of Britni McLaughlin-Le identified the deceased as McLaughlin-Le, her husband, Xuong Le, and their three children: Natalya Le,17; Nakayla Le,13; and Xavier Le, 10.
The McLaughlin family released this statement:
Britni and Xuong were a happily married couple for 17 years, loving and devoted parents to their three children, their extended family, and their beloved friends. Their three children all excelled in academics, the arts, and sports.
Our hearts are broken and we vow to cherish the memories of our loved ones and we will work to ensure that their legacies lives on.
We would like to express our sincere and heartfelt gratitude for your thoughts, prayers, and condolences during this difficult time.
We kindly ask that our privacy be respected in this matter as we are still processing this significant loss.
A source told NBC10 the eldest child in the family attended Penn Wood High School while the two other children attended Penn Wood Middle School and East Lansdowne Elementary School.
The William Penn School District sent a message to the school community on Thursday.
"Like all of you, we are at a loss regarding the horrific tragedy that happened in East Lansdowne yesterday and how that has affected our community. We are still awaiting additional information as this is an ongoing police investigation," a district spokesperson wrote.
"Our focus now is providing support to our students and staff. Counselors will be available today for those who need someone to talk to. We have reached out to the DCIU to provide additional counseling resources, if necessary. If you and your family need additional support, please contact your school principal or counselor. This is a time when we need to be there for each other and to provide reassurance for our students, as it is impossible to make sense of what occurred. If there are any further developments, we will let you know."
Hendrix Chandler, 9, went to East Lansdowne Elementary School with one of the victims who died in the fire. He told NBC10 that he and his mom brought stuffed animals and a sign to start a memorial near the scene in honor of his classmate and his family.
“I brought a sign, some teddy bears because I went to school with this kid and he died in the fire and it’s pretty sad,’ Chandler said.
Samantha Bryson, a neighbor, told NBC10 her daughter was also friends with the eldest child in the family.
“They’re just great kids. They’re real quiet. Very good in school. Very well mannered,” Bryson said. “It’s rocked our whole school community because there was a child in junior high, there was one in high school and there was one in elementary school so it’s like everybody feels it.”
The two surviving members of the Le family -- the grandparents of the children -- were outside the home at the time of the shooting and fire, according to Stollsteimer.
Two officers shot responding to report of child being shot at home
A family friend of the surviving grandparents told NBC10 the Le family moved to the United States in the early 1980s.
The friend said the grandmother told him she was on the first floor of the home on Lewis Avenue in East Lansdowne with her husband Wednesday afternoon when she heard her son arguing with his niece upstairs. The grandmother said she then heard her son shooting a gun. She said her husband then grabbed her and the two ran out of the house and called 911.
At 3:47 p.m. Wednesday, East Lansdowne Police Officer John Meehan, 44, and Lansdowne Police Officer David Schiazza, 54, responded to the Le family's home for a report of an 11-year-old girl being shot.
When the officers arrived at the scene, a gunman inside the home immediately opened fire, police said.
"I was there, a cop came flying around the corner," Sharon Johnson, a crossing guard who witnessed the shooting, told NBC10. "He got out and then he's in front of the house talking to two people. And then all of a sudden I heard six or seven gunshots. Cops got down on the ground and I ran and took off."
Officer Schiazza was shot once in the leg while Officer Meehan was shot once in the left arm. Responding Upper Darby police officers dragged both of the wounded officers to safety as the gunman continued to fire, investigators said.
"It was because of the Upper Darby Police Department who also responded to that call that these officers are alive today," Stollsteimer said. "They were dragged out of danger by Upper Darby police officers."
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt said his officers got one of the injured officers into a patrol car and drove him to Penn Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia. Other Upper Darby officers dragged the second injured officer to an ambulance, which took him to Penn Presbyterian.
"Our uniformed patrol responded and saw two officers and they advised our officers that they had been shot," Bernhardt said. "Our officers, numerous officers, responded, got ballistic shields and were able to go onto that street, drag those officers out."
Officer Schiazza was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon. Officer Meehan, who underwent surgery on his arm, is still being treated and could be released on Friday.
Both officers are 22-year veterans and are expected to recover.
House erupts in flames amid active shooter situation
During the chaos, investigators believe the gunman intentionally set the house on fire. Intense flames were initially seen rising from the roof and top floor of the three-story home before spreading to the lower levels, largely gutting the structure.
Firefighters were unable to initially fight the rising flames due to the active shooter situation.
"Officers were taking gunfire," Stollsteimer said. "Police officers and the fire department who were out there, there was still shots coming out at the beginning of this fire scene."
The entire block was evacuated as more police, firefighters and a SWAT team arrived at the scene. Cellphone video showed officers crouched down behind a car as the fire raged on.
“All the cops was coming with guns, rifles out,” neighbor Veronica Carrington said. “I said, ‘close the door, leave it closed.’”
The gunfire eventually stopped and by 6 p.m. Wednesday, the fire was mostly under control.
Police and firefighters will continue to sift through the charred remains of the Le family's home on Friday as they search for the bodies of the three other family members. Meanwhile, the entire community will continue to mourn as investigators work to determine what led to the tragedy.
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