Nine people are dead after a mass shooting at a residence in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday night, authorities confirmed Saturday. The suspected shooter, a 45-year-old man whose identity has not yet been released, killed eight people and then apparently turned the gun on himself, police said at a Saturday press conference.

Officers responded within minutes of a ShotSpotter alert near East 7th and Perry Streets late Friday evening, Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said. When they arrived, they found two women fatally wounded outside the home at 722 Perry St., both pronounced dead at the scene. After securing the area and surrounding the house with a SWAT team, officers entered and discovered the rest of the carnage inside, including the suspected shooter dead on the second floor from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Investigators determined that all nine deaths occurred before officers reached the property. No shots were fired after police arrived; sounds that some neighbors reported as gunfire were actually flash bangs used during the tactical response, authorities said. Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said his office was still working Saturday morning to confirm the identities of the deceased, and had not yet ruled on the manner of any of the deaths.

Police revealed at the press conference that eight of the nine people who died were related to one another, including the suspected shooter. The ninth victim was a family friend. Among the dead were at least two children and one woman who was eight months pregnant. A witness told police that after entering the home, the gunman came back outside and shot two women who appeared distressed and were pacing back and forth seeking help from neighbors. The motive remains unknown.

"The loss of life is devastating, and the circumstances we are working through are deeply disturbing," Lorah said. "Some scenes stay with you long after you leave them. This is one of those tragic scenes," the chief added, describing the aftermath as unlike anything he and other officers in the city police force had encountered in their careers.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said in a post on X Saturday morning that he had spoken with Erie Mayor Daria Devlin and offered his administration's full support after what he called a "tragic mass shooting." Devlin praised the police department for confronting what she described as "a horrific scene," noting that the officers who responded are also members of the community who "will carry the weight of what happened."

The shooting is one of the deadliest in the United States this year and has reopened debate over gun policy in Pennsylvania, where Shapiro has long pushed for measures including universal background checks and restrictions on untraceable firearms. Several of those proposals have stalled in the state legislature. The gun debate is also front and center nationally, with the Supreme Court's new term set to take up major gun-rights cases.

Authorities have released no information about how the shooter obtained his weapon, and the investigation is ongoing. Police have not discussed any history of domestic incidents at the home. Cook said one of the nine victims was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead there; the rest were pronounced dead at the scene, and the coroner's office has not said whether autopsies will be performed.