Multiple people missing in Pennsylvania house fire after shootout with police

EAST LANSDOWNE, Pennsylvania — At least six people are missing, including children, when a house caught fire following a shootout with police that left two officers wounded, reports say.

Reports say six to eight people are unaccounted Wednesday night following the fire in the Philadelphia suburb. The Morning Call reports all of the missing are from one family.

“Our fear is there may be multiple people inside that home who have died,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer tells NBC Philadelphia. “We don’t know yet whether or not we can confirm or deny that until we get inside and methodically go through the debris that that house is now.”

Officers were called to the home shortly before 4 p.m. after receiving reports that an 11-year-old girl had been shot, Fox 29 reports. Officers from multiple departments went to the home and came under fire from someone inside the house.

One officer was wounded in the arm and another in the leg, USA Today reports.

Moments later, someone inside the home set the home on fire, Stollsteimer tells USA Today. The fire spread quickly through the three-story home and gutted the structure, reports say. Firefighters were called to the scene but initially unable to approach the house because of concerns of gunfire.

“I will say with a heavy heart that we are afraid there might be more than one person in that house,” Stollsteimer said during a news conference, according to USA Today. “We know the victim’s family had a lot of people living in that house, including children.

“It is our terrible fear that they may (have been) inside that house when it was burned,” he added. “We are hopeful that that is not true, but we will not know until tomorrow morning.”

Fox 29 reports that Stollsteimer said investigators still were unsure Wednesday night who was in the home or who the shooter was.