Eight found dead in suspected murder after house fire in Tulsa
At least eight people were found dead in a burning home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the police said.
The Broken Arrow police said that they are suspecting homicides and didn’t believe that any immediate threat existed anymore to the public.
The fire was reported at about 4pm on Thursday in a residential area of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Police spokesman Ethan Hutchins said that a family of eight lived in the house. There were two adults and six children.
Mr Hutchins said that the bodies have not been positively identified.
“Understandably, this is a shock to Broken Arrow. It’s a safe city. Broken Arrow doesn’t have this kind of situation every day,” he added.
The neighbourhood of Broken Arrow where the alleged homicides took place is about 13 miles (20km) southeast of Tulsa. The tragic incident took place in the 400 block of South Hickory.
One eyewitness, Catelin Powers, was driving with her children when she noticed a column of smoke coming out of the house. She was quoted as saying by the Associated Press that “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 said that one man emerged from the front door of the burning house and he was seen dragging an apparently unconscious, unresponsive woman.
“Her arms were flopped to her sides,” Ms Powers said.
“She was in either very short shorts or underwear and a tight shirt,” the eyewitness said. She said the unresponsive woman had a tan complexion “and looked maybe to be mid-twenties”.
Meanwhile, local reports said that the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was assisting in the investigation.
The police said they are continuing to investigate and were interrogating the neighbours.
Police are not identifying the victims at this time. In a news conference just before 10pm, they did say the medical examiner is on the scene looking into the conditions of the deceased and the manner of death.
