Andre Gordon, Suspect In 3 Falls Township Murders, Captured After Trenton Barricade, Showdown With Police
The man accused of killing three people during a violent rampage in Falls Township, Pennsylvania Saturday morning before barricading himself inside a Trenton home has finally been captured, Fox29 reports citing officials.
It all began on Viewpoint Lane in Falls Township just before 9 a.m. when Falls Township police responded to reports of a shooting. There, police say Andre Gordon Jr., 26, forced his way into the home and fatally shot two people and fled in a stolen vehicle that was carjacked in Trenton earlier in the morning.
The victims have been identified as his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon. Three other people, including a minor, were inside the home and able to hide, according to Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn.
He then drove to a home on Edgewood Lane around 9 a.m. where authorities say he forced his way inside and shot and killed 25-year-old Taylor Daniel – the mother of his two children. Authorities say four other people were inside that home and one person was injured after they were struck by Gordon with a rifle.
After fleeing that scene, around 9:15 a.m. police say he carjacked a 44-year-old male driver at gunpoint outside a Dollar General on Bristol Pike in Morrisville. He fled that scene in the driver’s dark gray Honda CRV.
A short time later, authorities confirmed that Honda was found unoccupied in Trenton and that SWAT teams were converging on a nearby home to search for Gordon.
Police had believed Gordon barricaded himself inside a home near the 100 block of Miller Street in Trenton where the carjacked vehicle was found. Authorities say they received information that Gordon may have taken multiple people hostage inside.
Police later confirmed the home's residents had been taken to safety with no injuries. Gordon was taken into custody around 5 p.m.
By mid-afternoon, officers surrounded the house on a taped-off block, calling to Gordon through a loudspeaker and trying to persuade him to come out.
"Andre, get away from the windows. If you would like to surrender, dial 911 now," one message went.
Police determined later that Gordon was not in the house on Phillips Avenue.
According to police, it is believed that Gordon knew all of the victims who were fatally shot. He is also believed to currently be homeless and has ties to Trenton, New Jersey. Authorities believe he has ties to the home police had surrounded.
Officials said they couldn't yet speak to a motive for the attacks. While Gordon had had some minor brushes with the law, they were "nothing that would indicate that anything like this would happen," Falls Township Police Chief Nelson Whitney said at a news conference.
A shelter-in-place order was sent to residents in Falls Township by phone and by mobile alert around 9:30 a.m. and was lifted by 12:30 p.m.
The Bucks County St. Patrick’s Day Parade was canceled as a result of the shelter-in-place, and several local businesses in the area also closed temporarily.
Governor Josh Shapiro noted he was informed of the shooting and said on X that he directed Pennsylvania State Police to work with local law enforcement, and to provide whatever support they might need.