Erie Police Detail Timeline of Shooting That Killed Nine Including Two Children

Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said a 45-year-old man killed eight people, including two children and a pregnant woman, before killing himself on Friday at a house on Perry Street. Eight of the nine people who died were related; the ninth was a family friend. The Erie County Coroner ruled the deaths of the six adults, two children and the unborn child as homicides and the shooter’s death as suicide.

Police responded at about 4:55 p.m. after a ShotSpotter alert. Officers found two women, aged 51 and 37, dead outside the home. Video from neighbours showed the women arriving in distress, knocking on doors and trying to get attention before they were shot. Inside the house, officers found a 5-year-old boy and a roughly 22-month-old girl on the first floor. On the second-floor stairwell they found a 24-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant, a 44-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man. The shooter was found on the second floor with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and a registered .40-calibre handgun.

Lorah said investigators believe the shooter killed the people inside, went outside and shot the two women, then returned inside and killed himself. All the deaths occurred before police entered. A SWAT team used flash-bangs after obtaining a warrant; no shots were fired by responding officers. The chief described the scene as the worst he had experienced and said mental health is being examined as a possible factor, though it is too early to state a motive.

The unborn child could not be saved because too much time had passed between the woman’s death and the discovery of her body. Names of the victims have not been released. The house at 722 Perry Street was occupied by the related victims found inside. The two women found outside did not live there.

The shooting is among the deadliest mass killings in Pennsylvania in recent years. Local authorities continue to investigate the sequence and any prior interactions that may have preceded the incident. No additional suspects are being sought.