Authorities name shooter and most of 8 victims in last week’s Erie mass shooting

A coroner on Monday released the names of the shooter and six of the eight people he fatally shot at a home in Erie, Pennsylvania, including seven of his relatives.

The shooter in Friday’s attack was Matthew Stone Sr., 45, according to Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook. Stone committed suicide at home, Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said.

According to Cook, the adult victims were Michelle Stone, 44; Angelina Stone, 24, who was due to give birth on Monday; Jonathan Pierre, 19 years old; Matthew Stone, 21, and two women who lived at other addresses: Lora Roberts, 37, and Twila Tanner, 51. He said a 5-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl also died, but state law prevented him from releasing their names.

At a memorial for the victims, Julius Windham said his daughter Amarianna was the little girl who was killed. The girl’s mother was Angelina Stone, who was also the mother of the deceased boy, he said, noting that the attacker was a grandfather and the patriarch of the family.

Family friend Nicole Eller said Roberts frequently visited the house to help during the pregnancy of her niece and neighbor, Angelina Stone.

Roberts, identified by friends as an engaged mother of five, was a volunteer and former board member for a community group that helped the homeless. She wrote a Facebook post on July 15 denouncing the recent shootings in Erie.

“Erie, we have to do better!!” she wrote. “Life is precious and it’s heartbreaking to see so much pain and violence. Watch over the people you love and always choose kindness.”

Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators included muffled gunshot sounds coming from inside the home just before two “distressed” women arrived and began banging on the door, Lorah said. The gunman then came out and shot them as they ran towards him, before going back inside.

Roberts and Tanner, who were the only non-parents, were killed outside the home, Lorah said.

The police chief did not say what the shooter’s possible motivations were, but suggested his mental health may have been a factor. He said investigators would speak to relatives and examine cellphones of the women killed outside the home.

Erie is about 120 miles north of Pittsburgh.