Three shot dead in Pennsylvania town, police say
HARRISBURG: Three people were fatally shot Saturday morning at two separate residences in Falls Township in Pennsylvania, according to authorities, who said the assailant fled and was tracked to Trenton, New Jersey, where he eventually surrendered.
The chain of events, which started around 9am., set off a dramatic twostate search as police looked for the assailant, identified by authorities as Andre Gordon, 26, and culminated with officers swarming a house in Trenton, about 20 minutes away from where the shootings occurred.
As a Swat team surrounded the house where Mr Gordon was believed to be, law enforcement authorities negotiated with him, said Christopher Clark, operations lieutenant at the Falls Township Police Department.
At some point, Mr Gordon left the house, and he was later arrested on a nearby street, said Trenton Police Department spokesperson Detective Lt. Lisette Rios. It was not immediately clear how he left the home undetected.
Residents in the home were successfully evacuated with no injuries, Detective Rios said.
Mr Gordon drove a stolen vehicle and killed his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon, in Levittown, Pennsylvania, according to Jennifer Schorn, the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, district attorney, who spoke at a news conference.
There were three other people, including a 14-year-old, in the home who hid as Gordon searched for them, she said.
Mr Gordon then drove to a nearby residence, where he killed Taylor Daniel, a 25-year-old woman with whom he had two children, Ms Schorn said.
Four other people were in that home. One of them was Daniel’s mother, whom Mr Gordon bludgeoned with an assault rifle. She was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover, Schorn said.
Mr Gordon then fled to a Dollar General parking lot, where he stole a car from a 44-year-old man who was uninjured, authorities said.
During the search, police warned that Mr Gordon was armed with an assault rifle and was believed to be in possession of other weapons.
A shelter-in-place directive that had been in place in Falls Township was lifted. Authorities in neighbouring townships had directed Sesame Place, a theme park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to close as a precaution, and other shops followed suit Saturday.
The Bucks County St Patrick’s Day Parade, due to take place Saturday, was halted in response to the shooting.
Officials said at the news conference Saturday that they were in contact with parade organizers and told them the parade needed to be shut down. Police officers also went “up and down the roadway,” warning people to return to their homes, officials said.
Parade organizers on social media said that “regrettably, the parade was cancelled due to a township emergency.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of today’s tragedies,” organisers added.