Deaths of 8 found in burning Broken Arrow house likely a murder-suicide, police say

BROKEN ARROW — Eight people were found dead Thursday at a Broken Arrow home where neighbors said two adults and six children lived, a mostly secluded family whose kids would play basketball in the driveway and where the father would sometimes be seen wearing a firearm.

Broken Arrow police on Friday did not confirm the identities of the victims but said it appeared to be a murder-suicide involving two adults and six children, ages 1 to 13 years. Police said the eight who died "are from one family that is believed to have lived inside the home."

Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill confirmed firearms were recovered from the home but would not say if they had been used in the incident.

“I’m in total shock,” said Kris Welch, the owner of the home at 425 S Hickory Ave., where the family had been her tenants for eight years.

Earlier this week, the adult woman of the house told Welch she suspected a gas leak and had the gas turned off, the landlord recalled. When Welch asked about working to get the gas turned back on, the woman said they needed to deal with it later.

“She told me her husband’s mother just died and is grieving so maybe we can deal with this next week,” Welch said. “That was weird and then all this.”

Welch described the adult man of the house as “kind of odd.”

Fire department was originally called to the house on Thursday

The Broken Arrow Fire Department was dispatched to the home at 4:05 p.m. Thursday. Upon arrival, crews found “smoke and fire showing from the rear of the structure,” according to Fire Chief Jeremy Moore.

“Immediately, we found two adults in the front of the house with significant injuries, and they were obviously deceased,” Moore said. “The injuries did appear to our fire crews at that time immediately to be criminal in nature.”

Officials said neighbors may have attempted to help remove residents from the home, but they were unable to confirm. Police said the two deceased adults are considered suspects at this time.

The fire department called in the Broken Arrow Police Department to assist in the investigation and continued fire suppression efforts. Moore said the fire was able to be confined to “one room in the rear of the house, in the room of origin.”

“Once the initial fire was knocked down, our crews moved to preserve the evidence, to preserve the crime scene for our fire investigators as well as our police department,” Moore said.

Six children were found dead in the room where the fire originated, unable to be immediately removed from the scene due to the heat and fire, according to Moore.

“We do not believe that any of the victims died from the fire, however, the final determination for the cause of death will be made by the medical examiner,” Moore said.

Officials said both the police and fire investigations are ongoing. Investigators are also coordinating with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and have sent evidence to their labs.

“I want to make it clear to residents of the area that there is no danger to the public because of this incident,” Berryhill said.

Berryhill also said it had been “numerous years” since any calls were made to that house and there was “nothing out of the ordinary” for the residence.

Man who lived in home was seen wearing a gun

As crime scene investigators continued their work Friday morning, Dusty Creecy, who lived directly behind the house, said she would often see children playing on the trampoline in the backyard.

“It is very sad because I would see young kids,” Creecy said. “One in diapers for sure.”

The home also has a basketball goal in the driveway and another facing the street, where teenage boys would often play, neighbors said.

Bob Stewart has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and said the adult man was known by neighbors to have a gun.

“He used to walk around with a gun attached to him, even when he was mowing the lawn,” Stewart said.

The adults who lived in the home filed a bankruptcy petition in 2020, in which they reported owning nine firearms, according to court records. (The Oklahoman is not publishing their names because police have not confirmed their identities)

The home is tucked inside a middle-class neighborhood, where many houses were decorated for Halloween and couples walked their dogs Friday morning in the crisp autumn air.

Broken Arrow, a southeast suburb of Tulsa, has a relatively low crime rate and Thursday’s deaths were believed to be the city's first homicides of the year. The tragedy ranks as one of Oklahoma's worst mass slayings since statehood.

While neighbors remarked on the safe feeling they have in their community, many referenced a 2015 incident when two teenage brothers killed their parents and three siblings at their Broken Arrow home, about six miles from Thursday’s incident.

A police officer at the scene on Friday recalled the 2015 killings when trying to guess how long it might take investigators to finish their work.

“I’m not sure because this is rare,” he told a neighbor.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Police: Murder-suicide likely led to deaths of 8 found in burning home