Suspect Andre Gordon arrested in New Jersey after killing 3 individuals in Philadelphia suburb, police say

FALLS TOWNSHIP, Penn. — A person killed three individuals of their Philadelphia-area houses Saturday and was later arrested in New Jersey’s capital metropolis following a significant police response and hourslong standoff, authorities stated.

Steve Wilson, police director for the town of Trenton, stated the person was discovered close to a home have been he was believed to have barricaded himself and was taken into custody. He apparently escaped the perimeter across the residence earlier than it was arrange, based on Wilson.

Wilson added that he didn’t imagine the suspect was armed on the time. Nobody else was injured.

The suspect was recognized earlier as 26-year-old Andre Gordon Jr. Authorities stated he killed his stepmother, his teenage sister and the mom of his kids in shootings that stretched into two houses in japanese Pennsylvania’s Falls Township within the morning, Bucks County District Lawyer Jennifer Schorn stated.

Officers stated they could not but converse to a motive for the assaults. Whereas Gordon had had some minor brushes with the legislation, they have been “nothing that might point out that something like this might occur,” Falls Township Police Chief Nelson Whitney stated at a information convention.

Police stated Gordon was believed to be homeless. It was unclear whether or not he had an legal professional or anybody else who might touch upon his behalf.

The mayhem pressured the cancellation of a St. Patrick’s Day parade and shut down a Sesame Avenue-themed amusement park. Authorities in Pennsylvania’s Bucks County issued a shelter-in-place order for some areas for a number of hours.

After fleeing in a stolen automotive, then taking one other in a carjacking in a retailer car parking zone, Gordon went to the house in close by Trenton, authorities stated. By midafternoon, officers surrounded the home on a taped-off block, calling to Gordon by a loudspeaker and attempting to steer him to come back out.

“Andre, get away from the home windows. If you need to give up, dial 911 now,” one message went.

Neighbors gathered by the barricade to observe what was taking place. The house’s residents had been taken to security with no accidents, the Trenton Police Division stated.

Schorn stated Gordon first broke into a house within the Falls Township neighborhood of Levittown and killed his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and his 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon. Three different occupants, together with a 14-year-old, hid because the suspect went by the home, trying to find them, the district legal professional stated.

She stated Gordon then drove to a different residence in Levittown and shot and killed 25-year-old Taylor Daniel, the mom of his two kids, who have been there. The sufferer’s mom was bludgeoned with a rifle, Schorn stated. Police stated the injured girl is predicted to recuperate.

Shaun Murphy, who lives in Levittown, stated he was headed to the native St. Patrick’s Day parade when he noticed that the highway had been blocked.

“All of the neighbors have been exterior questioning what was occurring, after which we bought the discover about shelter in place,” Murphy stated, recalling that he and his neighbors had simply been speaking the evening earlier than about “how nice of a city and the way nice of a neighborhood it’s.”

Schorn stated that after the shootings, Gordon carjacked a automobile in a car parking zone in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, from a 44-year-old man who wasn’t harmed. From there, officers stated, Gordon drove to the house in Trenton.

Police in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, stated the suspect has ties to addresses in Bucks County and Trenton and “stays in Trenton primarily.”

Todt reported from Philadelphia. Related Press journalists Matt Rourke in Trenton, New Jersey; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed.