A gunman killed eight people, including two young children and a pregnant woman, inside and outside a family home in Erie, Pennsylvania, before taking his own life, authorities have said.

The shooting occurred shortly before 5 pm on Friday near the intersection of East Seventh and Perry streets. Seven of those killed were related to the 45-year-old gunman, while the eighth was a friend of the pregnant victim.

Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said investigators had not established a motive and cautioned against speculation while officers examine surveillance recordings, mobile phones and the gunman’s background. Authorities have not publicly identified the shooter or the victims.

Police were alerted at approximately 4.55 pm by the city’s acoustic gunshot detection system and calls from residents. Officers arrived within minutes and found two women, aged 51 and 37, fatally wounded outside the house.

Surveillance recordings recovered from neighbouring properties provided investigators with part of the sequence. The footage captured several muffled shots from inside the residence before the two women arrived. They appeared distressed, knocked on doors and attempted to attract attention from neighbours.

The gunman then emerged from the house, called towards the women and shot them as they moved in his direction. He subsequently returned inside the residence.

Police initially treated the property as an active threat. Officers deployed a drone and a robot to inspect the building before a tactical team entered. Investigators later determined that every victim and the gunman had died before the first officers reached the scene. Police said there was no exchange of fire with responding personnel and rejected early reports that the deaths occurred during a prolonged standoff.

Inside the home, officers found a five-year-old boy and a girl aged one year and ten months on the first floor. Two young men, aged 19 and 21, and two women, aged 24 and 44, were found in or near a stairwell.

The 24-year-old woman was in the final stage of pregnancy. The unborn child also died, although authorities have counted the mother as one of the eight homicide victims when reporting the official shooting toll.

The suspected gunman was found dead on the second floor with what authorities described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A .40-calibre handgun registered in his name was recovered at the property. The Erie County Coroner’s Office classified the eight victims’ deaths as homicides and the gunman’s death as suicide.

Police are investigating whether mental-health problems or an undisclosed family dispute contributed to the attack, but officials stressed that it was too early to draw conclusions. No evidence has been announced suggesting that another person participated in the killings or that the wider public remains at risk.

Erie Mayor Daria Devlin described the incident as an unprecedented tragedy for the northwestern Pennsylvania city. Governor Josh Shapiro said he had spoken with the mayor and offered the state administration’s full support to the community and emergency personnel.

The killings have also renewed debate over firearm legislation in Pennsylvania. Shapiro has previously urged state lawmakers to approve universal background checks and restrictions on privately manufactured firearms without serial numbers. Several proposals have stalled in the state legislature.

The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are shot, excluding the attacker. Its figures indicate that hundreds of incidents meeting that definition have occurred across the United States during 2026, although many involve injuries rather than deaths on the scale recorded in Erie.

The immediate police investigation will focus on reconstructing the gunman’s actions, relationships and communications before the killings. Until that work is completed, authorities have urged the public to avoid circulating rumours that could deepen the suffering of the victims’ surviving relatives.