Eight people were killed and the suspected gunman, a 45-year-old man, was found dead inside a home on Perry Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, after a shooting on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, shortly before 5 p.m. EDT, police said. Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah gave details at a news conference on Saturday, Oct. 10, which the Erie Times-News placed at about 4 p.m. EDT. This report reflects what officials had said as of about 6:50 p.m. EDT Saturday.
What happened and when
The shooting took place at a home in the 700 block of Perry Street, near 7th Street, in Erie, a city about 120 miles north of Pittsburgh, according to the Associated Press. ABC News, in a story timed 6:05 p.m. Saturday, reported that a ShotSpotter alert at about 4:50 p.m. EDT Friday prompted officers to respond. ShotSpotter is a system of sensors that detects gunfire and alerts police. The Erie Times-News reported that Lorah put the first report of shots to police at 4:52 p.m. EDT. The AP reported that officers arrived within minutes.
The AP reported that two women who appeared distressed arrived at the house shortly before 5 p.m. and pounded on the door, as shown on doorbell video and audio, and that investigators’ video and audio also picked up muffled gunshots from inside the house shortly before they arrived. ABC News reported that Lorah said police believe the gunman came out and called toward the two women. The AP reported that, according to police and video, he shot them and went back inside.
SWAT and other officers surrounded the home, obtained a warrant and entered, Fox News and ABC News reported. Fox News’ story was published at 8:57 a.m. EDT Saturday. ABC News reported that police found the gunman on the second floor, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The time officers entered the house has not been reported.
The toll, and why early reports said nine
Nine people were found dead, a total that includes the suspected gunman, according to the AP and ABC News. Early reports and police’s first statement said nine victims without saying whether the gunman was included in that count, ABC News wrote. The Erie Times-News live report quoted Lorah as saying nine victims died, eight victims and the suspected shooter. The AP’s story, as republished by WHYY and updated at 5:46 p.m. Saturday, carries a correction note saying the total of nine people found dead includes the suspected shooter. Some photo captions also said nine victims. CBS Pittsburgh reported that Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke of nine Pennsylvanians killed, a figure that fits the count that includes the gunman.
Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook ruled the deaths of six adults and two children homicides, the Erie Times-News reported at 5:35 p.m. Saturday. The coroner also ruled the death of one adult woman’s unborn child a homicide, and he ruled the gunman’s death a suicide. The report does not say how the unborn child’s ruling relates to the police count of eight victims. The Erie Times-News reported that no autopsies will be performed.
Who the victims were, as officials described them
The eight victims were aged 1 to 51, six adults and two children, according to Lorah at the news conference and the coroner’s rulings. No names had been released as of 5:35 p.m. EDT Saturday. Erie Mayor Daria Devlin said the coroner’s office would release them, and Cook said he was still contacting families.
One of the women was pregnant. Lorah said she was eight months pregnant, and the coroner described her as full-term, according to the Erie Times-News. The reports do not reconcile the two descriptions.
The relationship between the gunman and the victims
The AP reported that the gunman was related to seven of the victims, and ABC News reported that seven victims were family members. The eighth victim was a friend of the pregnant woman, the AP reported. The Erie Times-News live page reported Lorah as saying eight of the dead were family members and one a family friend, which differs from the AP’s count of seven relatives of the gunman plus one friend of the pregnant woman.
The Erie Times-News reported that police described a suspected domestic incident involving mostly family members. Lorah declined to discuss a motive, according to ABC News and the AP.
What police said about their response
Lorah said all of the victims were already dead when officers arrived, according to the Erie Times-News and ABC News. CBS Pittsburgh, in a report updated at 3:35 p.m. EDT Saturday, said police stated Saturday morning that all deaths occurred before officers arrived. The Erie Times-News also reported that all but one victim were pronounced dead at the scene and that one was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. Police said no shots were fired after officers got there, according to ABC News, the AP and the Erie Times-News. The city said loud noises that may have been mistaken for gunfire were flash-bang devices, which make a loud bang and a bright flash, used in the tactical response.
Criticism had been raised that officers waited to enter. ABC News reported that Lorah rejected it, saying officers were met with silence, heard no cries for help and saw no movement inside. Had they heard any, he said, they would have gone in immediately. Police said no shots were fired after officers arrived. On Friday night, NBC10 also reported police saying that, based on the information available at the time, there was no ongoing threat to the public.
The firearm
ABC News reported, citing the chief, that a .40-caliber handgun registered to the suspect was at the scene. ABC News alone reported the handgun detail. The report did not say how or when the gun was registered, and none of the reports explains what registered meant in this case.
The Giffords Law Center, on a state-law page last updated Dec. 31, 2023, says Pennsylvania keeps a database of handgun sales but that this database is not a registry of gun ownership. It adds that state law bars agencies from creating a registry of firearm ownership.
What officials have said
ABC News reported that Lorah called it the worst scene he has experienced. Local reporters on Friday night said he told them he had not seen anything like it in more than 28 years, according to MS NOW and Fox News.
Shapiro called the attack a mass shooting and said he and his wife were praying for the victims’ loved ones and the Erie community, ABC News and MS NOW reported. He said he had spoken with Devlin and offered the state’s full support.
Devlin told the families that the city is deeply sorry and that the whole community is with them, the AP and the Erie Times-News reported. She said early information was limited because other family members were not at the house and officers spent the night notifying families, according to ABC News.
Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz urged people not to spread rumors, speculation or unverified information, the AP reported.
What investigators are doing next
The AP reported that investigators will interview other relatives and examine the cellphones of the two women who were killed outside the house. Fox News reported that the Erie police Criminal Investigations Division is leading the investigation. The district attorney’s office is continuing its own investigation, and the coroner is still contacting families.
Context
The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an event in which four or more people are shot or killed, not counting the shooter. Everytown for Gun Safety now defines a mass shooting in the same way, as four or more people shot and wounded or killed, excluding the shooter, and describes four or more killed as its earlier definition. Eight people killed meets any of these definitions.
What is known and not yet known
Known: eight victims and the suspected gunman are dead, the gunman was a 45-year-old man, and the coroner has ruled the deaths homicides and the gunman’s death a suicide.
Not yet known: the names of the victims and the gunman have not been released, no motive has been announced by police, and no federal role has been reported.