An "extremely dangerous" suspect has been taken into custody in New Jersey after he allegedly shot dead three members of his family, authorities said after hours-long efforts to apprehend him.
Andre Gordon, 26, "surrendered peacefully," Trenton Police Department spokeswoman Lisette Rios told AFP.
Authorities said Gordon, who is believed to be homeless, started the day by stealing a car in Trenton, then drove about 65 kilometres to the northern Philadelphia suburb of Levittown.
There, police say, the suspect killed two people - identified as his 52-year-old stepmother and 13-year-old sister.
Three other people in the house, including a juvenile, managed to hide "while he was going through the house looking for them," Bucks County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said at a briefing.
The suspect then went to a nearby residence, where he broke into, then shot and killed a 25-year-old woman - who Schorn said was the mother of his two children - before beating her mother with the butt of his rifle. She is expected to recover.
Going to a nearby discount store, the suspect stole a Honda vehicle from a 44-year-old man, then fled. According to Falls Township, Pennsylvania Sheriff Nelson Whitney, the man was not injured.
The suspect then crossed the state line and returned to Trenton, where police say he barricaded himself in a three-story house.
Whitney said the suspect was allegedly armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, and police described him as "extremely dangerous."
For several hours, they urged him to surrender.
"Andre, move away from the windows. We know you're inside, if you want to surrender, dial 911 now," police said over a loudspeaker. "You're a young man, you have too much to live for."
Gordon was later "located at another location in Trenton," Rios said.
Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson said Gordon was not injured and was walking down the street when a patrol officer approached him. It is unclear if he was ever in the house where police believed he barricaded himself.
The people in that house were "successfully evacuated without injury," Rios said.
Armed SWAT officers were seen using a ladder to get onto the porch roof and help the people inside escape through a window.
Since the suspect crossed state lines, federal authorities - including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - have been working the case along with local, county and state police. /BGNES
