{"id":307466,"date":"2026-10-15T20:58:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/307466\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T20:58:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:58:51","slug":"erie-man-who-killed-his-family-had-history-of-domestic-violence-nbc10-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/307466\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie man who killed his family had history of domestic violence \u2013 NBC10 Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man who fatally shot eight people, including his pregnant daughter and other relatives before killing himself,<\/a> had been charged in a previous domestic violence incident involving the same firearm used in Friday’s mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, according to Police Chief Rick Lorah.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Erie officials held a news conference to share new information that investigators have learned about the shooter, Matthew Stone Sr., his family, and the circumstances leading up to the mass shooting inside their home on Perry Street on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

“There are still questions we cannot answer, particularly about why this happened. But what we have been able to establish is a much clearer picture of the events on Friday, October 9,” Lorah said.<\/p>\n

Victims included Stone\u2019s wife, Michelle Stone, 44; daughter, Angelina K. Stone, 24, who was pregnant; and sons Matthew Stone Jr., 21, and Jonathan Stone, 19, Cook said. Two other unidentified children, a 5-year-old boy and a nearly 2-year-old girl, who were also related to the shooter, were killed inside the house, according to the coroner.<\/p>\n

All six of those victims were found in the house, where they lived, while victims Twila A. Tanner, 51, and Lora Lee Roberts, 37, were fatally shot outside, officials said.<\/p>\n

According to police, investigators learned from family members that Stone Sr. “exercised significant control” over his wife, his children and his grandchildren \u2014 from finances to restricting when they could leave the home or spend time with other relatives and friends.<\/p>\n

“Family members told detectives that his behavior had been going on for years,” Lorah said.<\/p>\n

\tIf you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting\u00a0www.thehotline.org<\/a>\u00a0or texting LOVEIS to 22522.<\/p>\n

Police also learned that there was a domestic violence incident in that home seven years ago.<\/p>\n

According to Lorah, Stone Sr. was charged in a 2019 incident involving his wife, and investigators discovered that the same 40-caliber handgun that was used in Friday’s homicides was the same weapon that he used in that previous incident.<\/p>\n

However, in the preliminary hearing for that case, Michelle Stone changed her original statement, and the charges were withdrawn, according to Lorah.<\/p>\n

Outside of the 2019 case, Lorah said there were no other domestic violence incidents reported to police, and added that Stone Sr. had no criminal history and was legally permitted to possess the firearm.<\/p>\n

Through the investigation, detectives have also learned about repeated concerns surrounding Stone Sr.’s mental health and suspected substance abuse. But Lorah said investigators have not recovered medical records confirming a mental health diagnosis. However, during the search of the home, detectives did find drugs, which Lorah said corroborated the family members’ claims surrounding substance abuse.<\/p>\n

“We cannot establish what role, if any, mental health or substance use played in the shooting,” Lorah said.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Investigators also learned that Stone Sr.’s pregnant daughter, Angelina Stone, had expressed concerns about her father’s well-being on Oct. 9, 2025, exactly one year before the mass shooting. <\/p>\n

According to police, she had filed a petition to change her last name because she wanted to pursue a career in medicine and did not want her association with her father to impact her career. In the affidavit, she also described concerns about her father’s declining mental health.<\/p>\n

More recently, according to the police chief, Angelina had been sending messages indicating that she was planning to leave the family home after giving birth.<\/p>\n

“In those messages, she said her father was kicking her and her brothers out of the residence. She also reported that he had been physically abusive to her brothers,” Lorah said.<\/p>\n

When detectives searched the home after the shooting, they found “numerous” belongings packed in bags and boxes in Angelina’s bedroom, the police chief said.<\/p>\n

Lorah said the conditions inside the home also raised many concerns.<\/p>\n

“Detectives described the home as extremely filthy. The shower, toilet, and kitchen sink did not appear to be working. Numerous two-liter bottles were filled with urine throughout the house,” he said.<\/p>\n

Lorah also shared more details about the timeline of the mass shooting.<\/p>\n

At 4:39 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, investigators learned that Angelina Stone had called her aunt, Lora Roberts, via Facebook Messenger. In that exchange, Roberts told the 24-year-old that “she was on her way,” according to police.<\/p>\n

Roberts and Twila Tanner arrived in a Honda SUV, and were shot dead outside the residence.<\/p>\n

“We believe the first shots detected were likely those fired outside,” Lorah said.<\/p>\n

Officers were dispatched to the home at 4:53 p.m. and arrived to the scene at 4:55 p.m.<\/p>\n

“At that point, officers were responding to a rapidly developing situation, they did not know what happened inside the home, who might still be inside, or whether anyone was being held hostage,” Lorah said.<\/p>\n

At 7:12 p.m., officers entered the home, and minutes later, officers found the nine people shot to death, including Stone Sr., who Lorah said had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.<\/p>\n

\tIf you or someone you know is in crisis, call\u00a0or text\u00a0988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u00a0or chat live at\u00a0988lifeline.org<\/a>. You can also visit\u00a0SpeakingOfSuicide.com\/resources<\/a>\u00a0for additional\u00a0support.<\/p>\n

“All this information helped investigators better understand the circumstances inside the home and what the family members have been experiencing. It does not establish a definitive motive for what happened next,” Lorah said.<\/p>\n

Erie’s Mayor Daria Devlin said the city is providing support to those directly impacted and she’s doing what she can to help the community heal from this unimaginable tragedy.<\/p>\n

“I’ve begun conversations with leaders across our healthcare system, many of them here today, about how we can identify and support families in crisis, particularly those experiencing domestic violence, isolation, or serious challenges,” she said.<\/p>\n

Lorah said the investigation continues, but he doesn’t expect to hold any additional briefings unless new information comes to light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man who fatally shot eight people, including his pregnant daughter and other relatives before killing himself, had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137,28],"class_list":["post-307466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-pennsylvania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}