US shooting kills nine, including seven members of shooter’s family
A shooting in a residential area of Erie, Pennsylvania, left nine dead including two children, a pregnant woman and the suspected shooter.
Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the 45-year-old male gunman was related to seven of the victims in the shooting, while the eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman.
Police said the suspect was related to seven of the victims. Matt Barnum/WJET via AP
Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators showed two “distressed” women arriving at the home shortly before 5pm and pounding on the door, he said.
The gunman then came out and shot them before returning inside.
Police arrived to find the two women dead outside. Inside they found the bodies of a five-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl, two more women, two young men and the shooter.
Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, said he was shocked by the shootings.
“My heart breaks for this family. Lori and I are praying for their loved ones and the entire Erie community,” he said in a post on X.
Lorah declined to discuss motive but said investigators would talk to other relatives and examine the phones of the women who were killed outside the home.
Police are investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting. Matt Barnum/WJET via AP
“They knew something was going on at that house,” he said. “We have to figure out what that is.”
Officers are said to have arrived within minutes of receiving an alert via ShotSpotter, a controversial gunshot detection system that relies on artificial intelligence and a network of microphones to identify gunshots.
The city said in a statement that no additional shots were fired after that.
“Sounds heard during the police response that may have been mistaken for gunfire were flash bangs associated with law enforcement's tactical response,” the city said.
“I have not seen anything like this in my 28-plus years,” Lorah told a local news station earlier in the day.
“I’m not sure that the city of Erie has ever seen the loss of life and the devastation that we just witnessed.”
-Reported with Associated Press
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