Two mass shootings in the United States have claimed the lives of 14 people in the space of a few hours, local police forces have confirmed.
Five people were shot dead at a home in Douglas, Georgia, on Friday evening, the city’s police department said on Saturday.
Officers from the Douglas Police Department were called out late on Friday to a report that shots had been fired. Five people with gunshot wounds were all pronounced dead.
Also on Friday evening, a further nine people were killed in Erie, Pennsylvania, in what was described as a “tragic mass shooting”.
Police said two children and a pregnant woman were among those who died.
The city of Erie said in a statement all nine deaths, including that of the assailant, occurred before officers arrived at the scene, with no additional shots fired after that.
They had been alerted via ShotSpotter, a controversial detection system that uses artificial intelligence and a network of microphones to identify possible gunshots.
Governor Josh Shapiro wrote on social media: “I’ve spoken with Mayor [Daria] Devlin and offered my Administration’s full support following the tragic mass shooting in Erie last night – killing nine of our fellow Pennsylvanians.”
Erie police chief Rick Lorah described the scene as one of the most difficult he had seen during his time.
“The loss of life is devastating, and the circumstances we are working through are deeply disturbing,” he said in a statement, adding a motive had not yet been established.
He told a local news station he had “not seen anything like this in my 28-plus years”.
“I’m not sure that the city of Erie has ever seen the loss of life and the devastation that we just witnessed.”
There is no single definition of a mass shooting in the United States, but it is generally understood to mean at least three or four people shot and killed, excluding the perpetrator.
Source: 
news.sky.com
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