US gunman shoots dead 7 relatives, family friend

A man has fatally shot eight people, including two children and a heavily pregnant woman, at a home in the US state of Pennsylvania before appearing to take his own life.

Police were called to a street in the city of Erie on Friday afternoon after witnesses reported seeing a man firing a gun before he entered a home, officials said. Two women were found dead outside when police arrived.

The other victims were found inside the house alongside the gunman, Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said. All except one of those who died were related to each other.

Lorah said a motive had not yet been established but that “mental health is at play here”.

Lorah told a press conference on Saturday that investigators had reviewed video footage showing the two women who were killed outside the house, aged 51 and 37, arriving and trying to get help from neighbours. One was related to the family by marriage, while the other was a family friend.

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Lorah said what is thought to be muffled gunfire can be heard in the footage before the gunman is seen emerging and shooting both of the women.

The authorities arrived afterwards and entered the home after hearing no sounds from inside.

Inside they found the two child victims, aged five and one, on the first floor. The other victims, two women aged 24 and 44, and two men aged 19 and 21, were found on the second floor and stairwell, as was the gunman. One of the victims was eight months pregnant, Lorah said.

“Some scenes stay with you long after you leave them. This is one of those scenes,” he said.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he had offered his administration’s “full support following the tragic mass shooting in Erie last night – killing nine of our fellow Pennsylvanians”.

“My heart breaks for this family,” he said, adding that he and his wife were “praying for their loved ones and the entire Erie community”.

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