Officers in Philadelphia have recovered five bodies from a home in East Lansdowne after a shooting that ended with the entire house burning. They also found the remains of the relative suspected of shooting all of them and setting the house on fire.
According to reports, a grandmother identified her son, Canh Le, as the man who began shooting with relatives in his home. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer spoke in a news conference, explaining the circumstances. “Our assumption is that they were shot by gunfire, and then there was a fire set,” he said.
“If the torso recovered with the firearm is, in fact, (the shooter), the criminal investigation will be closed because we will have found the person we believe at least killed one person in this home and probably killed all the others himself.” The grandmother, Chin Le, also told CNN affiliate WPVI that it started as a little argument at home.
Canh reportedly argued with his 13-year-old niece and told her that he was going to get a gun. Then Chin Le left the house with her husband. Sadly, they came back to meet the house on fire with everyone dead.
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Three adults and three children were dead. They are Canh Le, along with Chin Le’s other son, Xuong Le, and his wife, Britni Le, were believed to have died, along with their children: NaKayla, 13, NaTalya, 17, and Xavier, 10, the grandmother told WPVI.
Authorities got a report that day at 3:50 p.m. at the home a few miles west of downtown Philadelphia. The call reported that “an 11-year-old girl had been shot.” It was unclear if the shooter had shot the child at that time or not.
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They rushed to the house but met open fire from a shooter in the house. They believe the person who shot at the officers was also Canh. He hit two officers, and their colleagues had to drag them out of danger. First was Officer David Schiazza of the Lansdowne Police Department, who had a gunshot wound in the leg.
Thankfully, his injury wasn’t fatal, and doctors discharged him the next day from a Philadelphia hospital. The second officer, John Meehan, was from the East Lansdowne Police Department. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left arm. His case was more serious, and he underwent a lengthy surgery.
Stollsteimer also mentioned that they recovered the torso and a rifle from the “unstable” burning home. This happened as the detectives combed the crime scene with excavation experts and drones. Everyone inside was dead.
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The recovery process may take a long time to complete. It could take “hours” or even “days.” Authorities still don’t know how and when the fire started. They are unsure who started it, but the flames swallowed most of the structure.
Investigations are ongoing, and the police will release a full report when they get to the bottom of the case. Chin Le and her husband are also trying their best to cope with this devastating loss.
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