A woman and three children ranging from a baby a few months old to an 11-year-old have been found dead in an apparent murder-suicide at a home in Oklahoma.
Police said the bodies were discovered inside the property in the Tulsa suburb of Verdigris after a confrontation with law enforcement Thursday night.
The standoff began when a police officer driving down the street saw fireworks coming from inside a home’s garage, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.
“That’s when the officer knew there was something wrong, went to investigate, called for backup,” spokesman Hunter McKee said.
When the officer entered the garage, he found a Roman candle firework and a woman and two children locked inside.
The woman told police she took another child onto the property for a supervised visit and was met by an armed woman who grabbed the child and locked her and the two children in the garage.
After a three-hour standoff with no response from inside the house, officers entered the house and found the adult woman and three children dead from gunshot wounds. Investigators found a handgun at the scene.
The names of the victims are not being released at this stage.
“It’s extremely difficult for everyone involved,” Mr. McKee said.
Police Chief Jack Shackleford said officers have already been called to the home several times on domestic and mental health calls, KOKI-TV reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.