A shooting in a residential neighborhood in Erie, Pennsylvania, left nine people dead, including two children, a pregnant woman and the suspected shooter, authorities said.
Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the 45-year-old shooter was related to seven of the victims in Friday’s shooting, while the eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman.
Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators showed two women “in distress” arriving at the home shortly before 5 p.m. and knocking on the door, he said. The shooter then came out and shot them before going back inside.
Police arrived and found the two women dead outside. Inside, they found the bodies of a 5-year-old boy, a 1-year-old girl, two other women, two young men and the shooter.
Lorah declined to discuss motive, but said investigators would speak to other relatives and examine the cellphones of the women killed outside the home.
“They knew something was going on in that house,” he said. “We need to understand what it is.”
The agents reportedly arrived a few minutes after receiving an alert via ShotSpottera controversial gunshot detection system that relies on artificial intelligence and a microphone array to identify gunshots. The city said in a statement that no further shots were fired afterward.
“Sounds heard during the police response that could have been mistaken for gunshots were flash bangs associated with the tactical response by law enforcement,” the city said.
“I haven’t seen anything like this in over 28 years,” Lorah told a local news station earlier today. “I’m not sure the city of Erie has ever experienced the loss of life and devastation that we have just witnessed.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro said he offered his administration’s “full support” to Erie Mayor Daria Devlin.
Erie is about 120 miles north of Pittsburgh.
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This story corrects that the total number of people found dead – nine – includes the suspected shooter.
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Jacqueline GaNun is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover under-reported issues.
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