Erie police describe home conditions before family patriarch's fatal shooting spree
Authorities say the shooter, Matthew Stone, killed eight people in his Erie, Pennsylvania home before taking his own life, and describe the residence as extremely filthy with non-functioning plumbing and urine-filled bottles.
Erie police said the house where Matthew Stone carried out a mass shooting on Friday was in a severely neglected state, with non-working toilets and sinks and 2-liter bottles filled with urine scattered throughout the home. > "Detectives described the home as extremely filthy," Police Chief Rick Lorah told reporters.
Stone, 45, died from a self-inflicted gunshot later that evening, ending a violent episode that left eight victims, including his wife, pregnant daughter, two sons, a sister-in-law, her friend, and two young children. The victims also included his wife Michelle Stone, 44; daughter Angelina K. Stone, 24, who was pregnant; sons Matthew Stone Jr., 21, and Jonathan Stone, 19; sister-in-law Lora Lee Roberts, 37; and her fiancée Twila A. Tanner, 51.
According to relatives, Stone had increasingly controlled the family’s finances and limited members’ movements, a pattern that intensified after his wife became pregnant. Police noted a prior 2019 domestic-violence case involving a .40-caliber handgun, the same weapon used in the Friday killings, which was later withdrawn when the victim declined to press charges.
Mayor Daria Devlin and Chief Lorah said the city will review its interactions with Stone to determine whether earlier intervention was possible. > "Were there opportunities to recognize that this family was struggling? Were there places where our systems could have responded differently and how do we make sure that families in this community who are suffering and struggling like this don’t fall through the cracks?" Devlin said.
Investigators found Angelina Stone had been planning to leave the home after giving birth and had filed paperwork to change her surname, citing concerns about her father’s mental health and her desire to pursue a medical career without his association.
The shooting follows a history of domestic-violence allegations against Stone, though he had no other criminal record and was legally permitted to own the firearm used in the attack.