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Pennsylvania gunman arrested in New Jersey after killing 3

Police said a 26-year-old man shot and killed three people he knew before carjacking another individual at a Dollar General store.
Pennsylvania gunman arrested in New Jersey after killing 3
Posted at 11:18 AM, Mar 16, 2024
and last updated 2024-03-16 21:02:35-04

Police say a gunman was arrested after three people were killed in a series of shootings in a suburban Philadelphia township on Saturday morning.

Operations Lieutenant Christopher Clark of the Township of Falls Police Department confirmed to Scripps News that Andre Gordon Jr., the man suspected of killing three people in the Philadelphia area, was arrested in New Jersey on Saturday after an hours-long standoff. He was taken into custody by Trenton Police.

Police in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, said officers were dispatched to a residence on Viewpoint Lane in Levittown at around 8:52 a.m. following a report of a shooting. 

The preliminary investigation determined that 26-year-old Andre Gordon, driving a stolen vehicle, allegedly shot and killed two individuals who lived at that residence, police said. Three other family members were able to hide from the shooter inside the home, police said during a press conference. 

Shortly after, Gordon allegedly shot and killed a third person at a separate home on Edgewood Lane, according to police. 

At around 9:13 a.m., he carjacked a driver at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Dollar General store in Morrisville. The driver was not injured, authorities said. Gordon took a 2016 dark gray Honda CRV from the carjacking victim. 

Just after 11:30 a.m. the car was located unoccupied in the 100 block of Miller Street in Trenton, New Jersey. Police said they received information that Gordon was barricaded with hostages inside a Trenton residence. 

Officers said Gordon was armed with the assault rifle he used to shoot and kill three people, and that he was in possession of other weapons. Police said Gordon was believed to be homeless.

The Associated Press reported that among those dead, Gordon killed his stepmother, his teenage sister and the mother of his children in shootings that stretched into two homes. Officials said they couldn't yet speak to an exact motive for the attacks by Saturday night. 

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. The victim's mother was bludgeoned with a rifle, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said. Police said the injured woman is expected to recover.

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said on X, "On a day where our Lower Bucks community celebrates our proud Irish heritage, Andre shocked our region by selfishly and abhorrently taking the lives of 3 individuals who have been confirmed to be his very own family."

Gordon had some minor encounters with the law, but it was "nothing that would indicate that anything like this would happen," Falls Township Police Chief Nelson Whitney told reporters. 

The Bucks County District Attorney's Office said Gordon was taken into custody in Trenton around 5 p.m. He will be charged in Bucks County at the appropriate time, the office said in a statement. 

Bucks County issued a shelter-in-place order around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, along with Falls Township Police. The order was lifted three hours later. 

The county's scheduled St. Patrick's Day parade was canceled following the shelter-in-place order.


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