Nine killed in shooting in US state of Pennsylvania, including two children

Nine people were killed Friday in a shooting in the US state of Pennsylvania, according to Governor Josh Shapiro. Police said the suspected shooter was among the nine dead.

Local media reported that two children were also among those killed at a home in Erie, Pennsylvania, which is 188 kilometres (117 miles) north of Pittsburgh.

Police in the city of Erie were called Friday around 5:00pm local time (21:00 GMT) to reports of shots fired and discovered two women dead in the street, the Erie News Now outlet said.

The attacker barricaded himself inside the home as police surrounded the building and ordered him to exit.

More gunshots were heard during the standoff, Erie News Now reported.

When police eventually entered the building, they found several more victims around the home, including the two children. The deceased attacker had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the outlet said, citing police.

Erie News Now said that police officers who responded to the scene were being offered counselling over the horrifying incident.

“I have not seen anything like this in my 28-plus years,” Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah told a local news station on Saturday. “I’m not sure that the city of Erie has ever seen the loss of life and the devastation that we just witnessed.”

Lorah declined to provide more details but said the circumstances of the shooting were “deeply disturbing”.

Shapiro said Saturday he offered his administration’s “full support” to Erie Mayor Daria Devlin.

Mass shootings occur frequently in the United States, where guns vastly outnumber the population and efforts to increase firearm restrictions face steep political and legal hurdles.