BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (HPD) — The deaths of six children and two adults in an Oklahoma home fire are being investigated as a murder-suicide case in which the two adults are suspected perpetrators, authorities said Friday.
The boys, whose ages ranged from one to 13, were the victims, Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill told a news conference. He did not reveal their identities, ages or relationships with each other. Police have not responded to questions sent by email.
Causes of death are being investigated, but Broken Arrow Fire Chief Jeremy Moore said no one appears to have died from the fire. Weapons were found in the home, the police chief said.
“Getting to the scene yesterday and seeing the faces of the first responders and firefighters was heartbreaking,” Moore said.
Sara Abel, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said that this federal agency helps local police find the origin of the weapons found in the house, but did not go into detail about the number and the type of weapons.
The notice about the fire came around 4 p.m. Thursday. It occurred in a residential neighborhood in Broken Arrow, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa.
Responding responders found two adults dead in front of the house with injuries that “appeared to be criminal in nature,” Moore said.
In another part of the house they found the bodies of the children, he added.