A man killed seven family members and a family friend at a home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday night before dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
The victims ranged in age from 22 months to 44 years old and included two children and a pregnant woman, Erie police said.
“It was the worst scene I have ever experienced,” said Police Chief Rick Lorah, who called it horrific.
Police responded to a home just before 5 p.m. on a ShotSpotter alert indicating two gunshots went off, Lorah said at a Saturday news conference.
When officers arrived, they found two women, ages 51 and 37, dead outside of the residence, the chief said.
Lorah said a neighbor’s Ring doorbell video showed those two women “arriving at the residence, appearing distressed, seeking assistance from neighbors and pounding on the door.”
Audio from video reviewed by investigators also “appears to capture muffled gunfire from inside the residence before the suspect emerged and fatally shot both women,” Lorah said.
The suspect then went back inside and witnesses reported hearing no further gunshots, Lorah said.
When officers arrived, they didn’t hear any movement inside the home and were unable to establish contact with anyone, Lorah said, adding it wasn’t clear whether someone was inside and posed a threat.
Ultimately, SWAT officers breached several doors and deployed a robot, which found multiple victims, and officers went in, the chief said.
Investigators determined the victims were killed and the suspect died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound before officers arrived.
Eight of the deceased, including the suspect, were related and one of the two women killed outside was a family friend, Lorah said. One of the victims found inside was eight months pregnant, he added.
“It’s a family,” Lorah said.
Two young children — a 5-year-old boy and a 22-month-old girl — were found on the first floor.
Four victims were found on the second floor in the stairwell: a 24-year-old woman, a 44-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man.
The suspected shooter, 45, who was not publicly identified, was found dead on the second floor. A .40 caliber handgun that was registered to the suspect was recovered “on his person,” Lorah said.
The police chief said all the victims inside the home lived there, and the two women found outside did not.
The investigation into what precipitated the shooting is ongoing.
Lorah said “it’s too soon to talk about motive” but that he believed “mental health is at play here.”
He said investigators will look into what the two women found deceased outside the home knew when they arrived at the scene.
“We have to look at their cellphones. They knew something was going on at that house,” he said.
“We believe that the shooter comes out and calls towards the two females. They run towards and then he, then he shoots them,” Lorah said of the sequence of events.
Gov. Josh Shapiro said he had spoken with Erie Mayor Daria Devlin and offered his administration’s “full support.”
“My heart breaks for this family,” he wrote on X. “Lori and I are praying for their loved ones and the entire Erie community.”
Erie is about 128 miles north of Pittsburgh.
