Andre Gordon Jr., 26, had had some “minor” contact with police in the past. “Nothing that could indicate what has happened,” stressed Nelson Whitney, chief of the Falls Township (Pennsylvania) uniformed officers.
What happened is that this Saturday Gordon armed himself with an AR-15 rifle and some other weapons and went to a couple of homes in that town in the suburban area of Philadelphia. He killed his stepmother, his sister and the woman with whom he had had two children, but with whom he did not live.
Then, at gunpoint, he kidnapped a man, whom he released without causing harm after taking his vehicle. He then barricaded himself in a house in Trenton, already in New Jersey, where he supposedly resided. The hostages were freed by special forces. Hours later, the alleged gunman was arrested.
The absence of news, especially political news in these turbulent times, meant that Gordon's criminal adventures took over the broadcasts of the cable channels as soon as the news broke. A long string of experts paraded around the screens trying to find the keys to the matter in a true exercise of talking for the sake of talking to fill in content inciting the anxiety of the audience.
The attacker stole a car in Trenton, where he had been homeless for a time, and headed to the town of Pennsylvania. At around 8:52 in the morning, the attacker broke into a home and fatally shot his stepmother, Karen Gordon, 52, and her sister, Kera Gordon, 13.
Three other people were at that address, including a minor, but they were able to hide, without Gordon being able to locate them, Jennifer Schorn, chief prosecutor of Bucks County, explained at a press conference.
From there he went to another nearby house. In this place he allegedly killed Taylor Daniel, with whom he shared two children and a broken relationship. There were four other people there. One was injured after being hit by the rifle-wielding attacker. That person had to be taken to the hospital, but there was no fear for her life.
He kidnapped a 44-year-old man at gunpoint in the parking lot of a popular supermarket in Morrisville. He took his car, a Honda, with which he fled.
For a couple of hours there was no news of his whereabouts. Falls Township residents were ordered to stay home. The police warned that the fleeing man was armed and was “extremely dangerous.” This also caused the St. Patrick's Day parade in Bucks County to be canceled and the school district to suspend sports activities scheduled for the day.
The Honda was located, abandoned, in Trento. The authorities received a call around 12:30 in which they were informed that Gordon had entered a house, where he had barricaded himself with hostages.
Thanks to the deployment of special forces, those held in that residence were rescued. Gordon had been left alone, but it was not until almost six in the afternoon that his arrest was reported without incident near that house.
