Eight killed in Pennsylvania shooting; suspect also found dead

Eight people were killed in a shooting at a residential neighborhood in Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 9, according to reports carried by Japanese news outlets. The victims included two children and a pregnant woman. A 45-year-old male suspect was also found dead at the scene and is believed to have shot himself. Yahoo! News Japan's Jiji report said city authorities disclosed the deaths on October 10. Police are investigating the motive. Tokyo Shimbun, carrying a Kyodo report, said the victims ranged in age from one to 51. [ 2 , 6 ]

According to the police chief's account in the Jiji report, officers responded on the afternoon of October 9 after an alert from a gunshot detection system. They found two women dead in front of a home. Inside, officers found the bodies of six family members, including a five-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl and a pregnant woman, along with the suspect's body. TBS NEWS DIG separately reported, citing local media, that a report was made around 5 p.m. after a man fired a gun and entered a home in northwestern Pennsylvania's Erie County. [ 1 , 2 ]

Tokyo Shimbun reported, citing police, that seven of the eight victims were family members and the other was a family friend. It said the suspect was related to seven victims. The earlier TBS report described the suspect's relationship with the victims as unknown. Both reports said police were examining the motive. Sankei Shimbun and Nishi-Nippon Shimbun also carried headlines reporting eight deaths, including children and a pregnant woman. [ 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]