At least six people are unaccounted for after a wild day which saw a Pennsylvania house burst into flames after police were called to the home over reports that an 11-year-old girl had been shot.
Two officers were also shot shortly after arriving at the home and were dragged to safety by colleagues, authorities said.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer confirmed the crime scene was still on lockdown and the fire, which was still burning and smoldering as of late Wednesday night, made the home too dangerous for authorities to enter for further investigation.
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Stollsteimer said that it was “with a heavy heart” that he believes more than one individual could still be inside the house.
“We know the victim’s family had a lot of people living in that house, including children,” he continued, confirming the missing are from that same family.
“It is our terrible fear that they may be inside that house when it was burned. We are hopeful that that is not true.”
The harrowing ordeal began when cops received a call at 3.57 p.m. Wednesday reporting that an 11-year-old girl had been shot at the home in East Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.
When officers arrived at the scene, an East Lansdowne police officer and a Lansdowne police officer ran towards the house, but a gunman inside the home began shooting. Both officers were shot once.
In an earlier press conference, Stollsteimer described how the two male officers were “dragged out of danger” by Upper Darby officers, who also responded to the 911 call.
The house was then set on fire.
Stollsteimer said authorities weren’t sure who the shooter was.
“The officers who were shot are doing well,” Stollsteimer said, adding the men “gave their thumbs-up” during a hospital visit by police officials.
Authorities will not be able to confirm the number of people who died until they get inside the home and search for bodies and “look for evidence of what actually happened,” Stollsteimer said, predicting the earliest entry would not be until Thursday morning, if the fire burns out by then.
“Our fear is there may be multiple people inside that home who have died,” Stollsteimer said. “We don’t know yet whether or not we can confirm or deny that until we get inside and methodically go through the debris that that house is now.”
“It is just a burnt-out hollow at this point, so there’s going to be a lot of work ahead of us.”
Authorities did not identify the family or possible victims.
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