A 45-year-old male fatally shot seven of his relatives and one family friend in an Erie, Pennsylvania, home, on Friday, police told the Associated Press.
The gunman took his own life, the AP said, adding that authorities have not released his name. One of the victims was eight months pregnant, police said in a news conference video.
'They were a lovely family. Who would have thought this would ever happen?'
Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the gunman was related to seven of the victims, while the eighth victim was a friend of the pregnant woman, the outlet added. Police have not made the names of the victims public, the AP noted.
A man whose 1-year-old daughter Amarianna was among the shooting victims told the outlet Sunday that the gunman was a grandfather who never seemed distressed.
"I think that was a front for him," Julius Windham told the AP while standing at a memorial to shooting victims, who also included a 5-year-old boy.
"Him every day, him smiling and being just — you would think ... nothing like that would happen," Windham added to the outlet.
Mourners on Sunday placed candles, flowers, and stuffed animals outside the home where the man opened fire shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, the AP said, adding that Windham wore a T-shirt with pictures of the women and children and the words, "Forever In My Heart."
"Words can't even explain what I'm going through right now," Windham added to the outlet. "But I gotta be strong for my community, you know what I'm saying? My family, my daughters, my sons, everybody."
Chief Lorah said video and audio evidence investigators recovered included muffled gunshot sounds coming from inside the home just before two "distressed" women arrived and began pounding on the door, according to the AP, which added that the gunman came out of the house, shot them as they ran toward him, and then returned inside the house.
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Responding officers found the two women dead outside, the outlet said.
Police deployed a drone and robot, the AP said, adding that officers then went inside the home and found the bodies of the 5-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl on the first floor; two more women and two young men in a stairwell; and the shooter on the second floor.
"Out of respect for the victims and the families, I will not discuss the details of what our officers encountered inside that home," the chief said at a news conference, according to the outlet.
Lorah declined to discuss a motive for the shooting but suggested mental health could be a factor, the AP said, adding that the chief noted that investigators would talk to relatives and examine the cell phones of the women who were killed outside the home.
"They knew something was going on at that house," Lorah also said, according to the outlet. "We have to figure out what that is."
Nicole and Debra Eller, whose best friend was among the victims, told the AP they have known the family for more than 30 years. Nicole Eller added to the outlet that the shooter "was a good guy, and then he started going downhill with everything."
"They were a lovely family. Who would have thought this would ever happen?" Debra Eller added to the AP. "Oh my gosh, this is so upsetting. This should have never happened to her or the kids or anybody. His grandchildren, his kids, how can you do that?"
The outlet added that Erie Mayor Daria Devlin (D) at a Saturday news conference told the victims' families she was "so deeply sorry. What happened to you was horrific, and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make this any easier. ... Our entire community is with you; we're grieving with you. And we are here to support you."
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