Officials announced that a suspect has been apprehended for the murder of three members of his family, including his thirteen-year-old sister, in a suburb of Philadelphia. The suspect thereafter fled to New Jersey.
Hours after gunfire erupted at two homes in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, police confirmed that the suspect, identified as 26-year-old Andre Gordon Jr., was first claimed to be holding hostages inside a Trenton property around noon on Saturday.
According to Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson, after an hours-long standoff, authorities obtained information suggesting that Gordon might be out and about. The suspect was caught without incident Saturday evening after being seen strolling several blocks from the home, according to Wilson.
According to Wilson, Gordon might have “slipped out” of the house before the police could set up a cordon around it.
While officials presumed Gordon was barricaded inside, residents of the home and other residences were safely evacuated, according to the police.
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Two residences in the Falls Township neighborhood of Levittown were shot at early Saturday morning, and authorities were looking for Gordon in connection with the incident.
According to Jennifer Schorn, the Bucks County District Attorney, Gordon allegedly broke into both residences after “forcibly” stealing a car in Trenton. According to Nelson Whitney, the chief of police in Falls Township, he was carrying an assault rifle similar to the AR-15.
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania have filed accusations against Gordon, including robbery, aggravated assault, first and second-degree murder, and other offenses. Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin of New Jersey announced Sunday that Gordon had been charged with firearms crimes and first-degree carjacking.
At about 8:52 a.m. ET on Saturday, police in Falls Township were initially sent to a home on Viewpoint Lane, where they found the bodies of two people who had been shot to death. Schorn states that the children killed were Kera Gordon, 13, and the suspect’s stepmother, Karen Gordon, 52 years old.
Three other family members, one of whom was a minor, were able to hide and escape from the shooting rampage.