LEVITTOWN: Three people were killed by gunfire in a Philadelphia suburb on Saturday morning and the suspect was on the loose following a carjacking, local media and the police reported.

Police in Middletown Township, just north of Philadelphia, confirmed on their Facebook page that shots had been fired in nearby Falls Township, leaving “several gunshot victims.”

The police said it was unknown whether the shootings were “targeted or random.”

But they identified the suspect as a 26-year-old homeless man, Andre Gordon. They said he was believed to be carrying an assault rifle and described him as “extremely dangerous.”

Local media, quoting police sources, said the suspect, traveling in a stolen vehicle, had killed two people living in a home in the Falls Township city of Levittown before killing a third person in a nearby residence.

They said he fled after carjacking another vehicle outside a discount store; its driver was not injured.

In an update, the Middletown police said that “sources in Trenton are advising that they have the vehicle, but not the suspect.”

Police in Falls Township and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro urged area residents to shelter in place. -AFP