Rick Lorah said the shooting on Perry Street in Erie, PA left nine people dead. Erie Police responded around 5 p.m. Friday after reports of gunfire at a home in the 700 block.
Two children and a pregnant woman were among the dead. Lorah said the scene was one of the most difficult and heartbreaking his officers and investigators had ever encountered, and he added, “The loss of life is devastating and the circumstances that were are working through are deeply disturbing.”
Rick Lorah on Perry Street
When officers arrived, they found two women lying in the road outside the house with fatal gunshot wounds. Police later said the suspected killer barricaded himself inside with a handgun, setting off a standoff with a SWAT team.
During that standoff, several shots were fired inside the home. The suspect later died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Lorah said there was “no ongoing threat to the public.”
Erie Police response
Lorah did not share more details “out of respect of the victims.” He told reporters, “Our hearts are with the victims, their families and everyone affected by this tragedy,” as police worked through the scene on Erie’s East Side.
The relationship between the gunman and the victims had not been disclosed, and police had not revealed a motive. That leaves the central unanswered question tied to the suspected murder-suicide: what linked the people inside the home before the shooting turned into a standoff and ended with nine dead.
