Police Launch Manhunt After Boy Killed

2 Shot Dead, 3 Injured in Surburban Philly Home

GILBERTSVILLE, Pa. — A shooting at a rural home in suburban Philadelphia killed a 2-year-old boy and a man from Massachusetts and critically injured three other people, authorities said Sunday.

Police were called late Saturday to the residence in Douglass Township in Montgomery County, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele identified the dead as 43-year-old Joseph Shay, of Yarmouth, Mass., and New York City, and 2-year-old Gregory Erdmann, of Fall River, Mass. Both were shot in the head.

The boy's mother, 37-year-old Kathryn Erdmann, also was shot in the head and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Also critically injured were the homeowners, 64-year-old Paul Shay and 58-year-old Monica Shay, of New York City.

The couple live in the East Village of Manhattan, where Paul Shay owns a plumbing company, and his wife is the director of the arts and cultural management program at Pratt Institute.

A neighbor, Dan Hoyt, 48, told The New York Daily News that Joseph Shay, their nephew, moved in about a year ago and did construction work for his uncle. "He was trying to help Joseph out," Hoyt said of the uncle.

He said the nephew recently had an argument with a man outside the apartment building.

No suspect was in custody, and police didn't have a description of the shooter, Steele said. The survivors were unable to speak to investigators, he said.