The father of a one-year-old girl killed in a mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, has described the gunman as the family’s patriarch, saying he never appeared distressed or gave any indication that such a tragedy could occur.
Julius Windham made the remarks on Sunday, October 11, while visiting a memorial for the victims of the shooting, which occurred at a residence shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, October 9.
Windham’s daughter, Amarianna, was among eight people killed by the gunman, who later took his own life. The victims included Amarianna’s pregnant mother, her five-year-old half-brother, and her unborn sibling.
“I think that was a front for him,” Windham said, reflecting on the gunman’s seemingly normal behaviour before the killings.
“Him every day, him smiling and being just — you would think of nothing like that would happen,” he added.
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.
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. PoliticalNews Analysis
“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.