Investigators are untangling the circumstances of a gruesome mass murder in Erie, Pennsylvania, in which a gunman killed eight people, many of them his own relatives, local police said.
The Erie County
Coroner's Office has not yet released the victims' identities, and police have not yet announced the name of the suspected gunman, who apparently fatally shot himself before police arrived.
Authorities are treating the incident as domestic violence because many of the dead are related. At the house where the shooting occurred, stuffed animals and flowers were piled high atop vehicles parked in the driveway on Oct. 11.
"I am so deeply sorry," Mayor Daria Devlin said at a news conference. "What happened was horrific, and I know there is nothing I can say today that will make this any easier. But I want you to know that our entire community is thinking of you, grieving with you, and here to support you."
What happened in the Erie mass shooting?
The city's "ShotSpotter" gunshot detection system alerted police to the incident shortly before 5 p.m. on Oct. 9, police said. Patrol officers arriving on scene were met with an "eerie silence" because there were no survivors, according to Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah.
Authorities found two women dead outside, and later found the others dead inside the narrow two-story yellow home a few blocks from Lake Erie.
According to investigators, the gunman was inside the house when he killed a boy, 5; a girl, 22 months; a woman, 24, who was eight months pregnant; a 44-year-old woman; a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man. The pregnant woman's unborn child was not included in the death count.
The gunman allegedly then met two other women outside the home as they arrived in a "state of distress," based on surveillance camera footage and witness interviews, Lorah said. He said investigators are still determining what prompted them to come to the house, where they were killed.
The gunman then went back inside the house and shot himself, Lorah said.
Who died in the Erie mass shooting?
Authorities have not yet released specific details of the dead, but said most of them were related to each other, and most lived in the same house at 722 Perry St.
Lisa Simmers said the 22-month-old girl killed was her niece.
"I can't even fathom that this is reality," Simmers said Oct. 10 during a vigil for the victims. "I keep thinking that I will wake up any second and that this is a crazy dream."
What is the motive in the Erie mass shooting?
Simmers and other people who attended the vigil referenced mental health issues in connection with the suspected gunman. Neighbors said some of the victims had been trying, for a period of time, to "get away" from the man.
The suspected shooter was found with a .40-caliber handgun on him, Lorah said. He said the gun was registered to the man, and that police believe he was legally allowed to possess it. Lorah said the suspected shooter last had an interaction with the police in 2022, but did not have further information immediately available.
"I think mental health is at play here, but I think it is too soon to really go into a motive," Lorah said.
He said police are looking at the mass shooting as “a domestic situation” because eight of those killed were related to one another.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 8 killed in Erie mass shooting as police seek motive: What to know
