Up to eight people, including children, are unaccounted for after a house fire that saw two police officers shot during an active shooter situation near Philadelphia.
Police responded to reports of an 11-year-old girl being shot in East Lansdowne, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, around 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, though it is unclear if a child was actually shot, reported NBC10.
The house was set on fire as police as police surrounded the home, according to District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.
Officials said a large family was living in the home and at least six to eight people remain unaccounted for, according to Fox 29 Philadelphia.
Authorities had still not been able to enter the building as of 7am EST on Thursday, when they are expected to sift through the wreckage and find the remains of the home’s residents.
‘We’re aware that there are at least six to eight people who are unaccounted for from that family. It is our terrible fear that they may be inside that house when it was burned,’ said Delaware County DA Stollsteimer.
‘We are hopeful that that is not true. But we will not know until tomorrow morning.’
At least six people, including children, are unaccounted for after a house fire and active shooter situation
Police responded to reports of an 11-year-old girl being shot in East Lansdowne, Pennsylvania and two officers were shot
Two officers were shot in the ‘active shooter’ situation, one was shot in the leg and the other in the arm.
Both are in stable condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s office.
They are both 22-year veterans and expected to recover. One officer works for the Lansdowne Police Department and the other works for East Lansdowne Police.
Sources told local outlets they believed the shooter was inside the home and they called it a ‘barricade situation.’
Footage from the scene shows flames coming from the house, it is unclear what started the blaze
Sources told local media they believed the shooter was inside the home and they called it a ‘barricade situation’
Two cops have been shot during an active shooter situation near Philadelphia at a house that has been set on fire
Police officers gather at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center Emergency entrance as the two officers who were shot are inside
The gunfire reportedly stopped around 6 p.m. and the fire is under control, however investigators will not be able to get inside the house until Thursday.
‘Law enforcement in East Landsdowne responded to a call of an 11-year-old girl being shot. They immediately responded, came to the house and they were shot at by somebody inside the house,’ said Stollsteimer.
‘At this point the fire is being put under control and then we can go inside and do the investigation to determine who the shooter was, whether they’re alive and whether there was an 11-year-old girl.’
A neighbor told WPVI, ‘I heard a lot of gunshots as I just came from the store and then I smelled the smoke about 10 minutes later. And I just seen cops come everywhere, running in their vests and everything.’
‘I heard (them) yelling ‘active shooter, get in the house, barricade, don’t come out.’