The quiet midday of February 7th in rural East Lansdowne, Delaware County, PA was disrupted by gunfire. Reports of an 11-year-old being gunned down flooded into emergency response. With officers from three departments responding around 3:45 pm, they faced gunfire almost as soon as they arrived.
The suspected active shooter was prepared for chaos. The shooter took down an officer of Lansdowne Police Department (LPD) and another from the East Lansdowne Police Department (ELPD), it took an Upper Darby Police Department officer to drag the two officers back to safety. While one received a wound to the arm, and the other to the leg, the shooting was quick and furious.
Roughly 15 minutes into the gunfight, the house suddenly started rolling smoke from the house the suspect had hidden in. According to one resident who spoke to 6ABC, “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!!’”
Two hours after the blaze began, firefighters were battling hotspots that refused to extinguish. District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer would not name the alleged shooter or many details about the investigation. He did however say, “We don’t know who the occupants are. We don’t know who the shooter was at this point. We don’t know how many people are in there or even if they’re still alive.”
Our prayers are with the families of the officers. Let’s hope the investigation is handled quickly and the suspect is brought to justice.
