Woman recalls terrifying carjacking in Trenton by man suspected of carrying out fatal shootings in Pennsylvania

By CNN

Published March 17, 2024 11:33 AM

KYW

By Madeleine Wright, Ryan Hughes

TRENTON, New Jersey (KYW) — A 26-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting three family members in Bucks County, Pennsylvania was tracked to Trenton, New Jersey Saturday afternoon before being taken into custody nearly nine hours after the killings.

Officials believe Andre Gordon Jr. killed his stepmother, teenage sister, and the mother of his children in shootings that happened in two homes in Falls Township Saturday morning.

“There were three other individuals at the residence, including a minor inside the home, who were able to hide and avoid being shot by Gordon as he went through the house searching for them,” Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said.

“It’s traumatic and sad, my children went to school with the family,” Shelli Mingo said. “It’s always been a close-knit community, I’m sure everyone will band together and help this family in any way they can.”

Investigators said Gordon then carjacked a man in the parking lot of a Dollar Store to go back to New Jersey. They believe it was his second carjacking of the day.

Saturday morning, he also took a car from a woman, Sonya Hansen, in Trenton. She told CBS Philadelphia it was a terrifying experience.

“I was really upset and nervous,” she said.

Hansen said Gordon carjacked her at gunpoint with her 9-year-old grandson in the car.

“Thanks to God, we was on our way to church and he didn’t kill us, because he could have shot us,” she said.

Police said after Gordon committed the triple homicide, he came back to Trenton. That prompted a SWAT team to surround a house on Phillips Avenue, which police said belonged to a family member.

For about six hours, they believed Gordon was barricaded inside, possibly with hostages. At one point they used a ladder to evacuate residents through a second-story window.

Police said they couldn’t go in to look for Gordon because they had to wait for a search warrant. The SWAT team threw tear gas inside, breaking windows in the process, trying to get him to come out.

“However, unbeknownst to law enforcement, the suspect had fled the scene before a perimeter was set up,” Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson said.

Police caught up with Gordon a few blocks away after a patrol officer spotted him walking down New York Avenue.

“He got on the ground, he wasn’t really fighting, but he kept getting up a few times,” Marissa Ridorfino said. “But they got him on the ground and just jumped on him and arrested him.”

Levon Edwards said he used to see Gordon around the neighborhood.

“It’s a sad situation,” he said. “And he was a humble kid. He always came to the laundromat. I met him a couple times, you know, in the laundromat. I talked to him. Nice, courteous, but family issues.”

The police director said Gordon will be extradited to Pennsylvania to face murder charges.

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