Community members created a makeshift memorial at the scene of a shootout and house fire that killed six members of an extended family in East Lansdowne.
Community members created a makeshift memorial at the scene of a shootout and house fire that killed six members of an extended family in East Lansdowne.
Matt Rourke/AP
CNN  — 

Four of the five family members who died in a chaotic shooting-turned-house fire just outside Philadelphia earlier this month died by gunshot, the Delaware County District Attorney announced Wednesday.

District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said one family member killed his brother, sister-in-law and two nieces before ultimately shooting himself during the February 7 incident. The youngest child died from smoke inhalation, the medical examiner determined.

“This is an absolute unmitigated tragedy for everybody in this community,” Stollsteimer said at a Wednesday news conference.

Firefighters work at the scene where two police officers were injured while responding to reported standoff in East Lansdowne, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Firefighters work at the scene where two police officers were injured while responding to reported standoff in East Lansdowne, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Matt Rourke/AP

Related article Bodies of 5 victims and apparent shooter recovered from Philadelphia-area house set on fire as responding police were shot

Police responded on February 7 to reports a child had been shot at a home in East Lansdowne. When officers arrived, they were immediately shot at, according to law enforcement. Shortly after, the house caught on fire and flames swallowed most of the structure, leaving nothing but a charred shell, footage from CNN affiliate WPVI showed at the time.

The Le family of eight lived at the home, and the grandparents were the ones who called 911, the district attorney said Wednesday.

The other six residents were the grandparents’ sons Canh Le and Xuong Le, Xuong’s wife, Britni McLaughlin-Le, and their three children: Natalya, 17, Nakayla, 13, and 10-year-old Xavier. The two grandparents were the only ones to survive.

Investigators believe Canh Le got into an argument with his niece Nakayla and “the argument turned deadly when he went into his bedroom on the second floor and pulled out a Diamondback DB-15 semiautomatic pistol,” Stollsteimer said.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said officials are closing their investigation into a shootout and house fire that left six members of an extended family dead.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said officials are closing their investigation into a shootout and house fire that left six members of an extended family dead.
Matt Rourke/AP

Le then fatally shot his brother, his sister-in-law and his two nieces before shooting two responding police officers, investigators believe. Then, Le lit the house on fire and shot himself, according to the district attorney.

After the fire was extinguished, six bodies were recovered from the scene, authorities said.

“The medical examiner has determined that each of those individuals (were) from that property,” Stollsteimer said. The DA said Le “took the ‘why’ to his grave,” regarding motive, and no charges will be filed.