Deaths of 8 in Oklahoma home investigated as murder-suicide

Undated photo of caution tape. (Photo by Aviz/Pexels)

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — The deaths of eight people -- including six children -- found in a burning Oklahoma home are being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said Friday.

The children ranged in age from 1 to 13, and two adults who also died are considered suspects, Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill said during a news conference. He did not provide their identities, ages or explain the relationships of the deceased to one another.

The causes of death are still under investigation but Broken Arrow Fire Department Chief Jeremy Moore said it doesn't appear that anyone died because of the fire.

Guns were recovered from the home, Berryhill said.

The fire was reported about 4 p.m. Thursday in a quiet residential area of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, 13 miles (20 kilometres) southeast of Tulsa.

Catelin Powers said she was driving with her children nearby when she saw a column of smoke near her house, so she drove past to investigate.

"When I got closer to the house, I saw smoke pouring out from the very top of the house, which looked like maybe the attic," she told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Two men and a woman on her phone were standing in front of the house, Powers said, when another man emerged from the front door dragging an apparently unconscious, unresponsive woman. "Her arms were flopped to her sides," she said.

Suspecting the woman was dead, Powers said she drove on so her children would be spared the sight.

Tragedy has struck before in Broken Arrow, which is Tulsa's biggest suburb with almost 115,000 residents. In 2015, two teenaged brothers killed their mother, father, two younger brothers and 5-year-old sister at their home -- which was about 6 miles (10 kilometres) south of Thursday's fatal fire.

The home where the 2015 killings occurred was later demolished and the site was transformed into a community park.