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Police were called to 58 Lewis Avenue in East Lansdowne for a report of a child shot around 4 p.m., District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer told reporters Wednesday night.
Two officers were shot while responding to the call and then someone started a fire in the house, authorities have said. Both injured officers were hospitalized in stable condition.
On Thursday, Feb. 8, DA Stollsteimer told reporters that crews were combing the burnt-out home. Six people — three children and three adults — remain officially unaccounted for, the DA said.
Officials have said a family named Le lived at the home but the victims have not been named by authorities.
"We know the victim's family had a lot of people living in that house, including children," Stollsteimer told reporters.
"This is a recovery operation," he continued.
"There's nobody alive in that burnt-out hulk of a house. There's like six feet of water in the basement, the walls could collapse at any time, and there's still hotspots burning," Stollsteimer said
"So for us, we're going to make sure that we methodically, carefully get inside the house and recover whatever gruesome things we find."
The injured policemen have been identified as Officer David Schiazza of Lansdowne PD and Officer John Meehan of East Lansdowne PD.
Schiazza, 54, was hit the leg and released from the hospital at 3 p.m. Thursday. Meehan, 44, was shot in the left arm and needed "a lengthy surgery" from which he is still recovering.
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