Current:Home > ScamsSearch resumes at charred home after shootout and fire left 2 officers hurt and 6 people missing -Summit Capital Strategies
Search resumes at charred home after shootout and fire left 2 officers hurt and 6 people missing
View
Date:2025-04-14 19:53:12
EAST LANSDOWNE, Pa. (AP) — Authorities were searching the charred remains of a suburban Philadelphia home Thursday morning, a day after a shootout and fire left two police officers wounded and at least six people unaccounted for.
Firefighters were also still on the scene and wisps of smoke were still visible from the charred remains of the house. Heavy machinery moved into the neighborhood as investigators prepared to search the home for the six missing people following a police shootout that wounded two officers.
An excavator was being used to tear down the walls left standing after the fire gutted the building.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer had said Wednesday “multiple people” inside the home may not have survived.
“We are hopeful that that is not true,” he said.
Officers responded to the house in East Lansdowne around 3:45 p.m. after a 911 call reporting that an 11-year-old girl had been shot, Stollsteimer said.
They immediately came under fire. One officer was shot in the arm and the other in the leg, officials said. They were both described by Stollsteimer as male, veteran officers. One works for the East Lansdowne department, and the other for neighboring Lansdowne.
Officers from Upper Darby saved their lives by dragging them out of danger, he said.
Authorities believe the home was set on fire by someone inside. 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.
Stollsteimer said later Wednesday that six to eight people, including children, were unaccounted for. He said the fire was still smoldering and no one would be able to search the site until Thursday.
There was no more information about the child who was reported wounded.
The whereabouts of the person who fired at the officers also weren’t clear, but Stollsteimer said there were “no threats to the community from that house.”
Upper Darby Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt described a volatile and dangerous scene when officers from his department responded to the home and were able to rescue the two wounded officers.
“All officers that were on scene initially were taking on fire, and then when they removed themselves from it, there was no more gunfire at that point,” Bernhardt said.
A WPVI-TV helicopter over the scene captured officers with ballistic shields dragging an officer down a sidewalk to an ambulance.
Stollsteimer said he had seen the wounded officers at the hospital and they were doing well.
The Rev. Moses Dennis, pastor at the nearby Faith Immanuel Lutheran Church, said he and others put the church and its child care center on lockdown when they saw police running down the street. They were later able to evacuate the children safely, he said, but everyone was still in shock.
East Lansdowne is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) west of downtown Philadelphia.
___
Todt reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press Video Journalist Tassanee Vejpongsa contributed to this report.
veryGood! (8762)
Related
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- Aaron Taylor
- Small plane crashes onto New York highway, killing 1 person and injuring another
- Man who jumped a desk to attack a Nevada judge in the courtroom is sentenced
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- Timothée Chalamet makes an electric Bob Dylan: 'A Complete Unknown' review
- GM to retreat from robotaxis and stop funding its Cruise autonomous vehicle unit
- Federal appeals court takes step closer to banning TikTok in US: Here's what to know
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- 'We are all angry': Syrian doctor describes bodies from prisons showing torture
Ranking
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Rooftop Solar Keeps Getting More Accessible Across Incomes. Here’s Why
- OCBC chief Helen Wong joins Ho Ching, Jenny Lee on Forbes' 100 most powerful women list
- How to watch the Geminid meteor shower this weekend
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- We can't get excited about 'Kraven the Hunter.' Don't blame superhero fatigue.
- CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione may have suffered from spondylolisthesis. What is it?
- The Daily Money: Now, that's a lot of zeroes!
Recommendation
Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
Stock market today: Asian stocks are mixed ahead of key US inflation data
Epic Games to give refunds after FTC says it 'tricked' Fortnite players into purchases
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Gas prices set to hit the lowest they've been since 2021, AAA says
Donald Trump is returning to the world stage. So is his trolling
Michael Cole, 'The Mod Squad' and 'General Hospital' actor, dies at 84