2 officers shot in East Lansdowne, Delaware County; active shooter situation ends

EAST LANSDOWNE, Pa. (CBS) — Two police officers who were shot in East Lansdowne on Wednesday are expected to survive, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said during a news conference. 

Stollsteimer said gunfire has since stopped in the area after it was initially called an “active shooter situation” by emergency officials.   

Police were called to the scene around 3:45 p.m. to a home along Lewis Avenue, near Pembroke Avenue and Baltimore Avenue for a report of an 11-year-old girl being shot, Stollsteimer said. 

Officers from Lansdowne, East Lansdowne and Upper Darby Township responded to the home and were immediately met with gunfire, according to Stollsteimer.

One officer was shot in the leg and the other in the arm. Both officers are in stable condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. One of the officers works for Lansdowne Police and the other works for East Lansdowne Police. Their identities aren’t known at the time, but both have more than 20 years of experience on the job, Stollsteimer said.

Stollsteimer said the two officers shot were dragged off the street by officers from Upper Darby.

Timothy M. Bernhardt, the Superintendent of the Upper Darby Police Department, said officers got ballistic shields and dragged the two wounded officers away from gunfire on the street.

Bernhardt said one officer was taken to the hospital by an Upper Darby police vehicle and the other was taken by an ambulance. 

“I just can’t thank these officers and this team enough for the heroism displayed every single day by our police officers throughout the county, but particularly today,” Stollsteimer said. “I can’t thank Upper Darby police officers enough for what they did to drag these two gentlemen away from the gunfire. We might be having a whole different conversation about what happened.”

Stollsteimer said the scene is still a very active investigation.  

It remains unclear if an 11-year-old was shot, Stollsteimer said, even though police were called to the scene for the report of a child struck by gunfire. 

After the police were shot, Stollsteimer said, the home was set on fire. 

It’s unknown who or how many people were inside the burning home, Stollsteimer said. 

“We are still actively investigating the scene,” Stollsteimer said. “We don’t know who was in the house, we don’t know who the shooter was, how many people are in there. We don’t know their status. We don’t know if they’re alive.”

The fire is now mostly under control, Stollsteimer said. 

Chopper 3 was over the scene, where flames could be seen coming from the home. It remains unclear how that fire started. The smoke from the blaze was showing up on radar and blew 5-10 mph in the south and southeast direction.

Stollsteimer said fire crews still can’t enter the home and that firefighters won’t be entering until it’s completely safe. 

Stollsteimer said crews were initially unable to begin putting the fire out because shots were being fired at police. He added that nobody else is in danger due to the fire and the entire block of residents was emptied because of the blaze. 

“We will get to the bottom of it, and we will continue the investigation to know if a 11-year-old was or was not shot, more importantly who shot these police officers, and we intend to hold everyone accountable,” Stollsteimer said

“We don’t want another single officer hurt tonight in Delaware County,” he added. 

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.