YARDLEY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The suspected shooter who killed his stepmother, sister and the mother of his children in Falls Township, Bucks County over the weekend is behind bars in Trenton. He is set to be extradited back to Pennsylvania at some point. Meanwhile, a school community is mourning the youngest victim — the suspect’s 13-year-old sister.
The girl was an eighth-grader at Charles Boehm Middle School in Yardley. Grief counselors will be available for students and staff as they return for the school week.
In a statement, the Pennsbury School District said counseling “will be provided to the Boehm, Manor, and Penn Valley Schools. We have additional support available for students in any school that may need it.”
Authorities said the girl’s brother, 26-year-old Andre Gordon Jr., killed her along with their stepmother in Falls Township Saturday morning. Then, police said he broke into another house and killed the mother of his two children.
The shooting spree first started across state lines in Trenton, New Jersey. Police said Gordon carjacked a woman, Sonya Hansen, who was in the vehicle with her grandson. She said Gordon, armed with a gun in his hand, forced her to get out.
“My grandson, seeing the gun, ran out of the car. And then the guy started banging on my door with the back of the gun. Then I jumped over the seat and ran,” she said. “I didn’t know what was gonna happen to me and my grandson.”
Gordon drove the stolen car to his stepmother’s home in Levittown, Pennsylvania just before 9 a.m., according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office. He shot and killed 52-year-old Karen Gordon, along with his 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon.
Officials said three others were home at the time, including another juvenile, but they evaded injury. According to the criminal complaint, Andre Gordon Sr. — Karen Gordon’s husband and Kera’s father — told police that his wife woke him up and told him that his son was at the front door. Andre Gordon Sr. confronted his son and there was a verbal exchange before the older Gordon closed the door.
According to the complaint, doorbell camera footage shows Andre Gordon Jr. using a rifle to break the glass on the front door. Police said he first fired into the home through that broken window.
From there, the DA’s office said Gordon Jr. forced his way into the home of 25-year-old Taylor Daniel — the mother of his two children. Police said he fatally shot her and bludgeoned Daniel’s 61-year-old mother. She was taken to a hospital and treated for her injuries.
Their children were also home at the time, as well as Daniel’s brother, John. John Daniel had been sleeping when he heard an altercation between his sister and Gordon Jr., then gunshots. John Daniel took his nieces out of the room where their mother had been shot.
After the killings, police said Gordon Jr. carjacked a man in Morrisville and drove back to Trenton. Police initially thought he had barricaded himself inside a house with hostages, but it turned out Gordon Jr. escaped the house unnoticed. The occupants inside got out safely and police thought they had Gordon Jr. surrounded, but hours later, they found him on the street.
Trenton police arrested him without incident around 5 p.m. They said he had cut his hair in an attempt to conceal his identity.
Gordon Jr. is facing a long list of charges in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In Bucks County, he is charged with three counts of first- and second-degree murder, aggravated assault, robbery and other offenses, according to court documents. In New Jersey, he is charged with first-degree carjacking and weapons offenses.
He is currently being held and lodged at the Mercer County Correction Center. It is not yet known when he will be extradited to Bucks County.
Officials in Pennsylvania said they couldn’t yet speak to a motive for the attacks. While Gordon Jr. 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.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said the crimes “alarmed and terrorized communities in Bucks and Mercer counties.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.