Over 100 attend a vigil held for the Le family killed in the East Lansdowne tragedy

By the time it ended on a spring-like Saturday evening, the scent of burning candles had overpowered the acrid odor of fire smoke that had lingered in the air from the tragedy that has left the town of East Lansdowne in disbelief.

More than 100 people — including some out-of-towners — gathered in the Delaware County community in front of the remains of the burned-out house about 7 p.m., bearing their candles in red plastic drinking cups, for a vigil to honor those who had died in Wednesday’s horrific mass shooting and fire on Lewis Avenue.

While the candles didn’t extinguish the grief, the vigil, which featured uplifting speeches about the deceased family members, appeared to give those in attendance, some who stayed around until 9:30 p.m., a sense of release.

The event started with Mayor Majovie Bland imploring the crowd to yell in unison, “I love you. I miss you. I honor you. I will never forget you.”

Officials have identified the victims as Xuong Le, 40, his wife, Britni McLaughlin Le, 37; and their children, Natalya, 17, Nakayla, 13, and Xavier, 10. Also left dead was Cahn V. Le, 43, Xuong’s older brother, who police believe shot and killed the five before setting the house on fire.

Investigators were still trying to figure out precisely what happened at 58 Lewis Ave. on Wednesday afternoon.

And residents were trying to make sense of it.

“This doesn’t happen here,” Jose Encalada, who lives next door to the burned-down house and whose home was damaged, said before the vigil.

Agreed East Lansdowne Police Sgt. Jim Cadden: “The trouble that happens in other places usually doesn’t happen here.”

And Erica Moody, whose family lives a block away, said: “We will move forward at some point, but not really, ever, because this is always going to be here.”

Not all the attendees lived in East Lansdowne, a community of about 2,700.

Tanya Enyoasah, of Bellmawr, Camden County, drove 40 minutes with her four grandchildren to pay respects to the victims. Tanya L. Cain, who lives in Upper Darby Township, which surrounds the town, said East Lansdowne was a peaceful place where residents “work, go home, leave each other alone.”

“This is a horrible, unspeakable tragedy,” Jack Stollsteimer, Delaware County’s district attorney, said Friday. The borough hasn’t had a homicide in two years.

“We are hurting. We are in pain, said Mayor Bland.”

It is a close-knit classic suburban bedroom community, its 100-year-old, gabled American Foursquare houses and Craftsman bungalows giving its tidy streets a sense of unity.

People of color constitute an estimated 80% of the population in the racially diverse borough. Cadden described East Lansdowne as the “United Nations of communities.”

On an overcast, spring-like afternoon before the vigil, the neighborhood was quiet, save for the twittering of birds and the barking of a few dogs. Six white candles and a small basket by a tree filled with miniature stuffed animals, set around the corner, marked the scene to come.

During the afternoon, a group had gathered at Yeadon Community Park to release pink and blue balloons to honor the victims.

According to property records, the house had been owned by family members since 1990.

Several relatives of the victims attended the vigil, including John McLaughlin, father of Britney McLaughlin Le. He recalled that his daughter worked tirelessly for her family and that “her husband was so hardworking.”

He added, “Man, the kids. I love the kids,“ showing their pictures on his smartphone.

Investigators are still trying to unravel precisely what set off the rampage. They believe that Cahn Le shot and killed his relatives, and fired shots at the police officers who responded, wounding two of them, and that he then set the house ablaze.

Investigators said they had retrieved the melted remains of a rifle, believed to have been used in the shootings, but it was unclear who had purchased it.

During the vigil, Nakia Williams principal of the East Lansdowne Elementary School, which Xavier had attended, said: “We have to look at his desk every day, we are not moving it. We are going to miss him.”

Said Britney’s brother Justin McLaughlin, “A very close friend of the family said to me that we are grateful that none had to survive the other and live such a horrific event. They all died the same way they lived, which was together.”

At one point, the crowd participated in a moment of silence, interrupted occasionally by cries of sorrow.

“No words can describe this kind of sadness,” Enyoasah said before the vigil. Her granddaughter Juliana Merced had asked her to come. At 13, Juliana felt it was important to “let them know that even tho we didn’t know them we are still here for them.”