4 Family Members in Pennsylvania Shot Dead in Apparent Murder Suicide

ERIE, Pa. (AP) -- A man shot and killed a woman and their two daughters in his home Saturday morning before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook identified the dead as a 29-year-old man, a 27-year-old woman and two girls, ages 4 and 7. A 2-year-old boy was taken to a hospital with a minor injury, and police believe the man tried to shoot him, too, Cook said.

It was not immediately clear whether the man and woman were married.

Kevin Klino, 51, who lives a block away, told The Associated Press that he heard the shooting but was not sure what had happened.

"I was outside just leaving my house when I heard gunfire, four, five, or six shots ... and seconds later, cop cars came flying by," said Klino, who heads a community group called Citizens Reunited Against Crime. He said he talked to police and quickly spread word throughout the neighborhood that it was believed to be a murder-suicide rather than a gunman on the loose.

Regardless, he said, the shootings have shaken the community.

"This is an impoverished neighborhood with a lot of good people in it," Klino said. "People were just walking through the neighborhood stunned. It's not even a tragedy, it's worse than that ... when you've got kids involved, it just numbs you, shocks you."

Klino said his group would likely schedule an emergency meeting next week so a behavioral specialist could present information about the warning signs of domestic violence.

"She was nice to me. They were a happy family, never seen them argue or nothing," Olivia Shultz, another neighbor, told WICU-TV.

Erie is located on the banks of Lake Erie about 25 miles east of the Ohio border.