Father of toddler killed in Erie shooting says gunman was family's patriarch

The father of a 1-year-old girl who died in a mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, said the attacker was the family's patriarch and showed no signs of distress or foreshadowing the violence. Julius Windham spoke on Sunday, October 11, as he visited a memorial for those killed in the shooting, which happened at a home shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, October 9. Windham's daughter, Amarianna, was among eight people the gunman killed before taking his own life. Those who died also included Amarianna's pregnant mother, her 5-year-old half-brother, and her unborn sibling. “I think that was a front for him,” Windham said, referring to what appeared to be normal behavior by the shooter before the killings. “Him every day, him smiling and being just — you would think of nothing like that would happen,” he said. The gunman, 45, killed himself. His name has not been made public by authorities, but Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the man was related to seven of the victims. The eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman, Lorah said. Police also have not released the victims' names. Lorah said video and audio evidence gathered by investigators recorded muffled gunshots from inside the home just before two “distressed” women came to the door and started pounding on it. The gunman emerged and shot them as they ran toward him, then went back inside, according to the chief. Officers who responded found the two women dead outside. After using a drone and a robot, they entered and discovered 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,” Lorah 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.