ERIE, Pa. -- A man whose toddler was among eight people killed in a mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, said Sunday that the gunman was a grandfather who never seemed distressed or out of the ordinary.
“I think that was a front for him,” Julius Windham said as he stood at a memorial to victims of Friday’s shooting, including his 1-year-old daughter Amarianna, her pregnant mother and the woman’s 5-year-old son and unborn baby.
“Him every day, him smiling and being just — you would think of nothing like that would happen,” Windham said.
The 45-year-old gunman took his own life. Authorities have not released his name, but Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said he was related to seven of the victims. The eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman, he said. Police have not made their names public, either.
Mourners on Sunday placed candles, flowers and stuffed animals outside the home where the man opened fire shortly before 5 p.m. Friday. 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 said. “But I gotta be strong for my community, you know what I'm saying? My family, my daughters, my sons, everybody.”
Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators included muffled gunshot sounds coming from inside the home just before two “distressed” women arrived and began pounding on the door, Lorah said. The gunman then came out and shot them as they ran toward him, before returning inside.
Responding officers found the two women dead outside. After deploying a drone and robot, they went inside 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.
“But I want our community to understand the gravity of what happened and the profound impact this tragedy has had on those involved and on our community as a whole,” he said.
Erie is about 120 miles (190 kilometers) north of Pittsburgh.
Lorah declined to discuss motive but suggested mental health could be a factor. He said investigators would talk to relatives and examine the cellphones of the women who were killed outside the home.
“They knew something was going on at that house,” Lorah said. “We have to figure out what that is.”
Nicole and Debra Eller, whose best friend was among the victims, said they've known the family for more than 30 years. Nicole Eller said 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 said. “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 Erie shooting was reminiscent of a 1982 massacre in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in which a man killed 13 people, including five of his own children.
At a news conference on Saturday, Erie Mayor Daria Devlin addressed a portion of her remarks directly to the victims’ families.
“I am so deeply sorry,” Devlin said. “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.”
