Listen to this articleDear 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated using AI-based technology. Pronunciation errors may occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve results. A shooting in a residential area of Erie, Pennsylvania, left nine people dead, including the suspected shooter, and shook the city. Police said the dead included two children and a pregnant woman. Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the 45-year-old gunman was related to seven of the victims of Friday’s shooting, while the eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman. Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators showed two “distraught” women arriving at the home shortly before 5 p.m. and banging on the door, he said. The gunman then came out and shot them before returning inside. Police arrived and found the two women dead outside. Inside they found the bodies of a five-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl, two more women, two young men and the shooter. Lorah declined to discuss a motive, but said investigators would talk to other family members and examine cellphones of the women who were killed outside the home. “They knew something was going on in that house,” he said. “We have to find out what that is.” Officers arrived minutes after receiving an alert through ShotSpotter, a controversial gunshot detection system that relies on artificial intelligence and a network of microphones to identify gunshots. All nine deaths occurred before officers arrived, the city said, and no additional shots were fired after that. “Sounds heard during the police response that may have been mistaken for gunshots were explosions associated with the tactical response by law enforcement,” the city said. “I haven’t seen anything like this in my 28-plus years,” Lorah told a local news station that same day. “I’m not sure the city of Erie has ever seen the loss of life and devastation we just witnessed.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he offered his administration’s “full support” to Erie Mayor Daria Devlin. Erie is located about 190 miles north of Pittsburgh.
