Erie Police Identify Six Adult Victims and Suspected Gunman

Authorities have identified six adult victims and the suspected gunman in a shooting that killed eight people at a family home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 9. Erie County officials said the victims included relatives of the suspected shooter, two young children and a pregnant woman. Police are investigating the killings as a domestic incident.

Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook identified the adult victims on October 12 as Twila Tanner, 51; Angelina Stone, 24, who was eight months pregnant; Jonathan Stone, 19; Matthew Stone Jr., 21; Michelle Stone, 44; and Lora Roberts, 37, according to the Erie Times-News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Cook identified the suspected shooter as Matthew Stone Sr., 45.

The other victims were a 5-year-old boy and a 22-month-old girl. Cook and Erie police withheld the children's names because they were under 18.

Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the suspected gunman killed six people inside the home before shooting two women who arrived outside. According to Lorah, surveillance footage showed the women, including a family friend, arriving in a distressed state before the gunman allegedly shot them and returned inside to kill himself.

Police said the victims and the suspected shooter belonged to the same family or were connected to it. Matthew Stone Sr. was married to Michelle Stone, and Matthew Stone Jr., Jonathan Stone and Angelina Stone were their children. The two young children were Angelina Stone's children, according to police.

Authorities have not established a motive for the shooting. Lorah said investigators were considering possible mental health issues but cautioned that it was too early to determine what led to the killings.

"I think mental health is at play here, but I think it is too soon to really go into a motive," Lorah said.

Investigators recovered a handgun that Lorah said was legally registered to the suspected shooter. The police chief also said Stone's last known interaction with police occurred in 2022, without providing further details.

Cook ruled Matthew Stone Sr.'s death a suicide and the deaths of the other victims homicides. According to the coroner, all victims except Lora Roberts were pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities did not perform autopsies on the victims or the suspected shooter.

Lorah described the scene as the most severe he had encountered during his years in law enforcement, underscoring the gravity of the investigation. Police have not announced a motive or provided further details about the circumstances leading up to the shooting.