An ex-con fresh out of prison where he was serving time for child molestation and sexual assault has been arrested for murdering his sister and her fiance before stabbing his two young nieces, aged six and seven.

Police say that Gregory Gerrod Greene Jr. shot and killed his sister Meredith Greene and her fiance Tyler Thames at the home of their mother, former City Councilwoman Sandra Reid, in the city of Harrisburg in the US state of Pennsylvania at approximately 7am on Wednesday, 9th February.

The police added that the suspect had recently been released from prison, where he had been serving four years for raping a child in 2016.

The cops also said that the suspect stabbed his two young nieces during the attack and that he also critically injured the children’s aunt, who has been named as Brittonie Meredith. The children have been named as August and Royal.

The suspect allegedly violated a restraining order against his sister, Brittonie Meredith, in January, leading to his arrest. He was reportedly released from police custody on Wednesday, 2nd February, one week before the fatal killings.

After the killings, the suspect was eventually detained after a pursuit with police in which he allegedly hit multiple vehicles while trying to evade the law enforcement officers.

A GoFundMe campaign (www.gofundme.com/f/royal-7-august-6-lost-parents-in-tragedy) has been set up to help the family’s young children. At the time of writing, the campaign had raised over USD 36,000 out of a USD-5,000 goal and notched up over 500 donations.

The suspect is currently being held at the Dauphin County Prison without bail on two charges of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, burglary and the illegal possession of a firearm, according to the police, who have not ruled out filing additional charges.

There was no motive for the killings at the time of writing.