Six kids among eight found dead in house fire with ‘obvious’ crime scene, officials say

Six children were found dead in the back of a burning home in Oklahoma, but their deaths, according to first responders, are not believed to have been caused by the fire.

By the time firefighters extinguished the fire at the Broken Arrow home where a family of eight lived, they found eight bodies, officials said in a briefing on Friday, Oct. 28, a day after the incident.

The six children, whose ages range from 1 to 13, were discovered in the back of the home where the fire originated, according to Broken Arrow Fire Department Chief Jeremy Moore. The fire was contained to the one room, Moore said.

Two adults were found dead with “significant injuries” at the front of the Tulsa-area home.

The adults, according to Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill, are being treated as suspects in a possible murder-suicide. The relationships between the six children and two adults were not given.

Guns were found in the home, Berryhill said. As the fire was extinguished and bodies uncovered, it “became obvious” the home was the site of a crime scene, according to Moore.

The specific causes of death will be determined by the medical examiner, officials said. Moore said investigators do not believe any victims died from the fire.

“Broken Arrow stands together,” Berryhill said in a statement Thursday. “We will mourn together, and in the end we will heal together.”

Police spokesman Ethan Hutchins said Thursday there was no threat to the immediate public.

“Our hearts go out to the Broken Arrow community because this is a very safe city,” Hutchins said. “Homicides don’t happen here normally. This is the first homicide incident in Broken Arrow this year.”

Taylon Price, who lives near the home, called the neighborhood “very quiet, very peaceful,” KTUL reported.

Broken Arrow Mayor Debra Wimpee said in a statement the city council’s “hearts go out to our first responders.”

“We pray for the victims lost today in the tragic house fire here in Broken Arrow,” she said in the statement Thursday night. “Our community is stronger when we stand together.”

Broken Arrow, with a population of about 116,000, is about 115 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 7:45 AM with the headline "Six kids among eight found dead in house fire with ‘obvious’ crime scene, officials say."