8 people, including 2 kids and pregnant woman, killed at Erie, Pennsylvania, home: Police
Eight people, including two young children and a pregnant woman, were killed at a home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday by a gunman who took his own life, police said.
Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah told reporters Saturday that seven of the victims, whose ages range from a 1 year-old to 51, were family members while another was a family friend.
The police initially said there were nine victims but didn't disclose if the shooter was included in that count.
Officers responded to the house at 7th and Perry Streets around 4:50 p.m. after receiving a ShotSpotter alert about shots fired.
Lorah said doorbell cameras captured two of the victims, described only as a sister-in-law and family friend to the family who lived inside house, pounding on the door of the house before shots rang out.
They were killed outside, the chief 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.
A SWAT team was called in and entered the house after getting a warrant, according to the police.
Inside the home, Lorah said officers found two of the family members, a 5-five-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl dead on the first floor.
Officers discovered four more victims -- a 24-year-old woman, a 44-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man, and a 21-year-old man -- dead on a second-floor stairwell, according to the chief.
One of the female victims inside the house was eight months pregnant, Lorah said.
"It was horrific. It was the worst scene I have ever experienced," he said.
The shooter, only described as a 45-year-old man who was related to the victims inside the house, was also found on the second floor with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Lorah.
His .40 caliber handgun, which was registered to the suspect, was at the scene, the chief said.
Police later clarified that the deaths took place before the officers arrived and there were no additional shots fired between the time officers arrived and the time they entered the home.
Lorah pushed back against some criticism that the officers waited too long to enter the home and stressed that officers were trying to assess the situation and heard or saw no additional activity after they arrived.
"We did not hear a cry for help. We did not see movement inside. Had any of those been heard, we would have made entry immediately. Those officers were met with an eerie silence when they arrived there," he said.
Lorah said the police didn't have any additional information or motive, and stressed that the investigation is continuing.
Erie Mayor Daria Devlin added that the authorities didn't initially reveal too much information about the incident because there were other family members who were not at the house.
"So our officers during the night had to do the terrible work of notifying families. And again, when we think about the order of what we're worried about, the public safety, the families first, and then giving the rest of the information," she said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro released a statement Saturday morning saying he spoke with Devlin and offered his support. He called the incident a "mass shooting,"
“My heart breaks for this family. Lori and I are praying for their loved ones and the entire Erie community," he said in a statement.
Neighbors and other residents gathered Saturday night for a memorial to the slain victims.
