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

FAIRLESS HILLS, Pa. —  A man killed three people Saturday in their Philadelphia-area homes and was later arrested in New Jersey’s capital following a major police response and hours-long standoff, authorities said.

Steve Wilson, police director for the city of Trenton, N.J., said the suspect was found and taken into custody near a house were he was believed to have barricaded himself. He apparently escaped before police closed off the perimeter around the home, according to Wilson.

Wilson added that he did not believe the suspect was armed at the time. No one else was injured.

The suspect was identified earlier as 26-year-old Andre Gordon Jr. He killed his stepmother, his teenage sister and the mother of his children in morning shootings at two homes in eastern Pennsylvania’s Falls Township, Bucks County Dist. Atty. Jennifer Schorn said.

Officials said they couldn’t speak to a motive for the attacks. Gordon had had minor brushes with the law, but they were “nothing that would indicate that anything like this would happen,” Falls Township Police Chief Nelson Whitney said at a news conference.

Police said Gordon was believed to be homeless. It was unclear whether he had an attorney or anyone else who could comment on his behalf.

The mayhem forced the cancellation of a St. Patrick’s Day parade and shut down a children’s theme park. Authorities in Pennsylvania’s Bucks County issued a shelter-in-place order for some areas for several hours.

After fleeing in a stolen car, then taking another in a carjacking in a store parking lot, Gordon went to the home in nearby Trenton, authorities said. By midafternoon, officers had surrounded the house on a taped-off block, calling to Gordon through a loudspeaker.

“Andre, get away from the windows. If you would like to surrender, dial 911 now,” one message said.

The residents of the home had been taken to safety, with no injuries, the Trenton Police Department said.

Schorn said Gordon first broke into a home in the Falls Township community of Levittown and killed his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and his 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon. Three other occupants, including a 14-year-old, hid as the suspect went through the house searching for them, the district attorney said.

She said Gordon then drove to another home in Levittown and shot and killed 25-year-old Taylor Daniel, the mother of his two children, who were there. Daniel’s mother was bludgeoned with a rifle, Schorn said. Police said she is expected to recover.

Associated Press writer Catalani reported from Fairless Hills and Todt from Philadelphia. AP journalists Matt Rourke in Trenton; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed.