A mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, has left nine people dead, including a pregnant woman and two children, after a 45-year-old man allegedly killed eight people before taking his own life, police said on Saturday.
Reuters reported that Erie Police Chief, Rick Lorah said the suspect died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound before officers arrived at the scene of the incident, which occurred on Friday evening.
The man’s identity has not been released.
“Some scenes stay with you long after you leave them. This is one of those tragic scenes,” Lorah said while briefing reporters on the incident.
According to the police chief, eight of the nine victims were members of the same family, while the ninth was a family friend.
He added that after entering the house, the suspect came outside and shot two women who appeared “distressed” and were pacing back and forth while seeking help from neighbours.
Officers later found the suspect on the second floor of the house on Perry Street, Lorah said.
Authorities have yet to determine what motivated the shooting.
Erie Mayor Daria Devlin described the incident as a devastating tragedy, praising the police officers who responded to the scene.
“The police department arrived at a horrific scene, faced unimaginable circumstances, and carried out their duties with courage and professionalism,” she said.
“They too are members of this community, and they too will carry the weight of what happened last night,” she added.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he had spoken with Devlin and offered support following the shooting.
Shapiro has advocated for stricter gun safety measures and urged the state legislature in 2024 to approve reforms, including universal background checks and restrictions on ghost guns, which are homemade firearms without serial numbers and are difficult to trace.
However, several of his proposals have stalled in the legislature.
Data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive showed that the United States had recorded more than 400 mass shootings in 2026 as of the time of the report.
The organisation defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are shot, excluding the perpetrator.
The last recorded mass shootings in Pennsylvania before the Erie incident occurred in Philadelphia in July, according to the data.
