Tragedy in Erie, Pennsylvania: 45-year-old man kills eight people, seven of them relatives, including a pregnant woman and two children

Eight people were killed in a shooting Friday night at a home on Perry Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. Among the victims were a woman who was eight months pregnant and two young children: a 5-year-old boy and a 22-month-old girl.

In addition to the eight victims, the 45-year-old suspect was also found dead on the second floor, having shot himself, according to Erie police.

Police Chief Rick Lorah explained that the man was related to seven of the deceased and that the eighth victim was a friend of the family. The people found inside the house lived there, while the two women found on the street did not.

Lorah reconstructs the sequence of events beginning around 5 p.m. Shortly before that, video and audio recordings captured muffled gunshots coming from inside. Then two "distressed" women arrived and pounded on the door, and the videos show that the man came out, shot them, and went back inside. An alert from the ShotSpotter system, which uses microphones and artificial intelligence to detect gunshots, prompted officers to arrive within minutes.

Using a robot and a drone, police confirmed that there were more victims inside. According to the chief, all of them had died before the officers arrived, and no gunshots had been heard since then. What might have looked like gunfire, he added, were stun grenades from SWAT.

"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.

So far, Lorah has not discussed the motive and said that investigators will interview other family members and examine the cell phones of the women found outside. Police did not release the names of the assailant or the victims, and the ages reported by various media outlets do not entirely match, but it is clear that the two children were young.

Mayor Daria Devlin spoke with the families during the press conference.

"I am so deeply sorry," she told them, and assured them that "our entire community is with you." Governor Josh Shapiro offered his administration's support, and County Attorney Elizabeth Hirz asked that "rumors, speculation, or unverified information" not be added to the families' grief.

Authorities initially reported nine victims but clarified that the total of nine deaths includes the perpetrator. The investigation remains open.