Erie, Pennsylvania mass shooting leaves 9 dead, including 2 kids

A mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania has left nine people dead, including two young children and a woman who was eight months pregnant, police said.

The city’s police chief said seven of the victims and the gunman were related and the ninth victim was a friend of one of the relatives. He called it "one of the most difficult and heartbreaking scenes our officers and investigators have ever encountered."

Erie, Pennsylvania mass shooting

What we know:

Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the shooting happened late Friday afternoon and that police responded to an automated gunshot detection alert at a home on Perry Street at approximately 4:50 p.m. Several 911 calls came in after the gunshot alert, he said.

When officers arrived at the home at approximately, they found two women, ages 37 and 51, in the yard who had been shot dead. 

Lorah said video evidence showed the two women arriving at the home, appearing distressed, pounding on the door and seeking help from neighbors before they were shot. One of them was a family friend, he said, and the other was a sister-in-law of one of the victims inside the home.

He said audio and video, captured by a neighbor's Ring camera, appears to capture muffled gunfire from inside the home before the suspect emerged and shot the two women. 

The first officers on the scene, he said, had to consider whether anyone inside might be in danger or being held hostage, including the possibility that there were children present. But he said police could not make contact with anyone inside the home and could not see activity, describing it as an "eerie silence." 

When they forced their way inside the home, they found two young children on the first floor, a five-year-old boy and a 22-month-old girl. They found a 24-year-old woman, a 44-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man on the second floor stairwell.

Police found the 45-year-old suspected shooter with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police found a firearm on his person, Lorah said. 

What they're saying:

"Some scenes stay with you long after you leave them," Lorah told reporters at a Saturday afternoon news conference. "This is one of those tragic scenes. Out of respect for the victims and the families, I will not discuss the details of what our officers encountered inside that home."

He said that based on the early investigation, it appears all of the victims had been killed before police arrived on the scene. Based on muffled gunshots recorded on audio and video, Lorah said they believe the gunman was firing inside the home before the two women outside the home were shot.  

He said the doors were locked and windows were shaded.

"No movement, no audible sounds coming from inside the residents, no gunshots, no screams," he said. "Had we seen anyone attempting to get out of the residence or flag us down, we would have made entry immediately." 

Lorah also said no shots were fired after police arrived on the scene. 

"Sounds that may have been mistaken for gunfire came from flashbang devices and chemical munitions used by SWAT officers during the operation," he said.

What we don't know:

Authorities haven’t named the victims or the suspect, and they haven’t released a motive for the horrific crime. 

But Lorah said that as the investigation progresses, police have to look at the cell phones of the women who were trying to get into the home. 

"They knew something was going on at that house. We have to figure out what that is, and I think that we're going to get that through looking at the cell phones, speaking with family members, speaking with the witnesses again," he said. "I think that mental health is at play here, but I think it's too soon to really go into a motive at this time." 

Mass Shootings