Children, pregnant woman among dead in Pennsylvania shooting

Police in northwestern Pennsylvania said Saturday that a gunman killed seven relatives and a family friend inside a private residence before taking his own life. The unnamed suspect killed eight people, including two young children and a pregnant woman, before killing himself, Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said at a Friday press conference. Lorah did not say if the woman’s unborn child survived. He did not identify the alleged shooter, but confirmed that the 45-year-old was related to all but one of the victims. 

Police responded to the scene Friday afternoon after gunshots were reported, Lorah said. Authorities found two women dead outside the house before finding the remaining victims and the suspected shooter inside, he continued. Surveillance footage showed the women arriving at the residence in distress, pounding on neighbors’ doors, the chief said. The footage recorded muffled gunshot sounds inside the house before the suspect emerged and fatally shot the two women outside, he said. 

Lorah addressed rumors that gunfire could still be heard inside the house much later, after police arrived. He explained that the sounds came from flash-bangs deployed by SWAT members attempting to breach the house, he said. 

Erie District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz and Mayor Daria Devlin appeared alongside Lorah on Saturday and reported that no further details about the shooting, including the suspects’ motives, would be shared until further investigation. 

What else is known about the victims? The suspected shooter killed a 5-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl, Lorah said. The 5-year-old boy’s father, Julius Windham, spoke with the Associated Press on Sunday and identified the late pregnant woman as carrying his unborn baby. Windham also identified the 1-year-old girl as his daughter.