“Andre, get away from the windows. If you would like to surrender, dial 911 now,” one message went.

Neighbours gathered by the barricade to watch what was happening. The home’s residents had been taken to safety with no injuries, the Trenton Police Department said.

Schorn said police believe Gordon first broke into a home in the Falls Township community of Levittown and killed his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and his 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon. Three other occupants, including a 14-year-old, hid as the suspect went through the house, searching for them, the district attorney said.

She said police believe Gordon then drove to another home in Levittown and shot and killed 25-year-old Taylor Daniel, the mother of his two children, who were there. The victim’s mother was bludgeoned with a rifle, Schorn said. Police said the injured woman was expected to recover.

Shaun Murphy, who lives in Levittown, said he was headed to the local St Patrick’s Day parade when he saw the road had been blocked.

“All the neighbours were outside wondering what was going on, and then we got the notice about shelter in place,” Murphy said, recalling that he and his neighbours had just been talking the night before about “how great of a town and how great of a neighbourhood it is”.

Schorn said officers believe that after the shootings, Gordon carjacked a vehicle in a parking lot in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, from a 44-year-old man who wasn’t harmed. From there, officials said, Gordon drove to the home in Trenton.

Police in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, said the suspect had ties to addresses in Bucks County and Trenton and “stays in Trenton primarily”.

AP