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Pregnant Woman, Three Others Shot and Killed in Cleveland

Police say a pregnant woman and three others were shot and killed in a Cleveland home, and a 10-year-old girl was wounded but expected to survive.
Police respond at the scene of shootings in Cleveland on Nov. 21.
Police respond at the scene of shootings in Cleveland on Nov. 21. WKYC

Police are working to find a gunman who shot and killed three people at a house in Cleveland before turning his gun on a 9-year-old girl and her pregnant mother when they stumbled on the murder scene, police said Saturday. Authorities say the baby the woman was carrying also died.

The tragic incident happened around 7:30 p.m. Friday after a 41-year-old woman — accompanied by her 9-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son — drove up to a house on the city's east side. The woman sent the little girl inside the house to fetch clothing. That's when the girl came upon a horrific murder scene.

Authorities said the girl discovered "one or some" of the shooting victims — a 60-year-old man, a 19-year-old man, and a 17-year-old girl. "At that time, a male armed with a handgun ran toward the 9-year-old and fired a shot, grazing the girl in the chest," police said in a statement Saturday.

The unidentified gunman, whom the girl described as wearing a mask, then rushed outside, where he shot and killed the girl's mother. The toddler, who was in the back seat of the car, was not injured.

"Only an animal would do something like this to another human being," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told the Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Police said 41-year-old Sherita Johnson was 28 weeks pregnant. The identities of the three other people killed in the shooting were not released. The 9-year-old girl is expected to survive. The motive for the murders is being investigated.

— Daniel Arkin and Elisha Fieldstadt