Key takeaways:
- Police were called to a Perry Street home around 5 p.m. Friday and found two women dead outside and more people dead inside.
- Police said all deaths occurred before officers arrived and that sounds heard during their response were tactical flash-bangs.
- CBS News and The Guardian both reported nine victims, but their accounts do not resolve whether the dead suspect was included in the stated death toll.
Nine people, including two children, were reported dead after a shooting at a home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday evening. Police said the suspected gunman was also found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities have not announced a motive.
Officers were called to Perry Street around 5 p.m. after witnesses reported seeing a man fire a gun outside a home and then go inside, according to CBS News. Police found two women dead in the street and more people dead inside the house. The response led to an hours-long standoff involving officers and tactical teams.
The accounts published by CBS News and The Guardian differ on the death toll. CBS News reported that police confirmed nine deaths, including two children, and said the suspect was also found dead. The Guardian reported that officers found seven victims inside the home, in addition to the two women outside, and found the suspected attacker inside as well. Neither account resolves whether the suspect is included in its stated total of nine deaths.
Police said Saturday morning that all the deaths occurred before officers arrived and that no shots were fired after their arrival, according to CBS News. The department said sounds heard during its response were flash-bangs used by tactical teams. The Guardian, by contrast, reported that more gunshots were heard coming from inside the home as officers surrounded it. Police have not publicly established the full sequence of events.
“There are no words that can adequately express the magnitude of the loss of life here,” Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said. He declined to describe what officers found, citing respect for the victims and their families. Investigators were working to establish what happened, he said, adding: “We will not speculate about a motive or any information that could compromise this investigation.”
Lorah said the suspect was dead and that, based on information available to police, there was no ongoing threat. The city of Erie and Mayor Daria Devlin also said the situation had been contained. “We understand that this news brings deep shock and sorrow to our residents,” their statement said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Saturday that he had spoken with Devlin and offered his administration’s support. “My heart breaks for this family,” he said in a statement quoted by CBS News.
The Guardian reported that Gun Violence Archive figures classified the Erie killings as at least the 19th mass murder in the United States this year. The archive defines a mass murder as an incident in which four or more victims are killed. Its figures also placed Erie among more than 500 mass shootings since the start of January, a category covering incidents in which at least four victims are shot, whether or not they die.
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