A mother who was eight months pregnant and her two young children were among the victims of a horrific rampage that claimed nine lives.
The killings took place Friday evening at a home on the 700 block of Perry Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, about 120 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Family members identified one of the victims as Angelina Stone, 24, in social media posts.
Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah confirmed at a news conference Saturday that an eight-months-pregnant mother had died in the massacre. He also said a five-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl were among those killed.
Stone’s Instagram profile stated that her son Isaiah was born on July 15, 2021, making him five years old, while her daughter Amari’anna was born on November 21, 2024, making her one.
She had also indicated that her third child, Kyrie, was due to be born on October 14, the upcoming Wednesday.
Police said Saturday that the other victims included a 37-year-old woman, a 41-year-old woman, a 44-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man.
The 45-year-old shooter died by suicide after firing a self-inflicted shot, bringing the total death toll to nine. A registered .40-caliber handgun was found on his body.
Family members identified Angelina Stone, 24, as one of the victims in Friday’s shooting spree in Erie, Pennsylvania, which left nine people dead, including the gunman
Stone, a mother of two, said on social media that she had a five-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter
Police said the 45-year-old shooter died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Aaliyah Williams, who identified herself as the sister of Amari’anna’s father, wrote in a GoFundMe campaign that Stone and her children had been killed in a murder-suicide.
‘Now our family is facing the painful task of laying them to rest,’ Williams, of Erie, wrote.
Williams said Stone’s family lacked the money needed to cover the expenses resulting from what they described as an ‘unthinkable tragedy.’
Relatives said they had only two weeks to arrange funeral services and cover other expenses for Stone and her children.
‘This is more than [we] can carry alone right now, and we truly need the community to rally around us,’ the fundraiser stated.
By Saturday afternoon, the campaign had collected about $11,000 toward its initial $13,000 goal.
Stone often shared updates about her children online, including photographs documenting her pregnancies.
On September 25, she posted an ultrasound image of her unborn baby and said she was 36 weeks pregnant.
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‘Momma cant wait to hold you,’ she wrote.
Eight of the nine dead were related to the shooter, police said on Saturday
The suspect emerged from the Erie home and shot two women outside, according to police
Lorah said Saturday that eight of the nine dead were related to the shooter. None of them were named.
One of the women outside the home was a family friend and the other was a sister-in-law to one of the victims.
Ring doorbell video footage showed that the two women arrived at the residence ‘appearing distressed’ and ‘seeking assistance from neighbors’ while pounding on their doors, he said.
Audio appeared to capture muffled gunfire from inside the residence before the suspect emerged from the home and shot the women.
All of the victims inside the residence lived there, but the two women outside the home did not.
Lorah said it was too soon to discuss motive for the shooting, though he said mental health could be at play.
The police investigation, which was ongoing, would focus on what the women ‘knew’ when they arrived at the house.
Neighbors gathered outside the scene of the shooting, which was cordoned off, on Friday evening
Lorah said new information could perhaps be obtained through looking at their cellphones and further speaking to witnesses and family members.
Police had ‘limited information’ and did not know if the suspect remained inside the home, fled the scene or posed an ongoing threat.
Lorah said officers were met by an eerie silence and that there were ‘no cries of help from the inside.’
Law enforcement also considered the possibility of hostages being present, including children, while seeking a search warrant. Drones and a robot were deployed to eventually detect the victims inside.
Erie authorities said earlier on Saturday that all of the deaths happened before local police officers arrived.
More gunfire was seemingly heard afterwards, initially stoking fears that others could be in danger.
However, Erie authorities later clarified that the loud sounds were in fact flash bangs from the law enforcement response.
