At least six people are unaccounted for and presumed dead after a Pennsylvania home went up in flames and two police officers responding to the scene were shot.
The veteran officers were later identified as 54-year-old David Schiazza of the Lansdowne Police Department and 44-year-old John Meehan of the East Lansdowne Police Department, authorities said, according to 6ABC, theAssociated PressandCBS News. Both are expected to recover.
Matt Rourke/AP
At some point after that, the home was “set on fire,” Stollsteimer said, noting that it remains unclear as to who was responsible for igniting the fire, as well as who the shooter was and how many people were inside the home.
In a Thursday update, Stollsteimer said at least six members of the same family, including three children who were living in the home, remain unaccounted for and are believed to be dead, CBS News reports.
Charles Fox/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP
Neighbors described the chaos at the scene, with one telling 6ABC that a SWAT vehicle was parked on his lawn.
“I saw the SWAT team, they were parked up on my lawn, they packed into the back of the SWAT vehicle,” Derrick Richardson said, per the outlet. “I think they were attempting to use the SWAT vehicle as shield, but the fire just got to be out of control,”
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Another neighbor shared how in shock they were at how everything unfolded.
“Seeing an incident like this happen is like, nobody would’ve ever seen this type of thing coming,” a neighbor, identified only as Tayvon, told 6ABC. “It’s shocking, it’s still shocking. Loss for words, so prayers and condolences.”
source: people.com
