Six people were shot dead early Tuesday in a home in Oklahoma, including five young children, and a suspect in the murder was arrested, police said. Officials responded to a call from several people who were shot in Muskogee, a city of just under 40,000 people, about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, police said in a statement.
Arriving there, officers encountered a person with a gun, according to the statement. An officer shot and missed the suspect as the suspect ran away from the scene but was later arrested.
Officers at the scene found one man and four children dead and a fifth child died at a Tulsa hospital, police said.
Muskogee police officer Lynn Hamlin described the youths killed as “small children” but said police did not yet have the exact age. She said authorities did not yet have a motive, but believed no other suspects were involved.
“We do not believe it is random, but we do not yet have details on why or what happened,” Hamlin said.
A woman was also brought to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Authorities did not disclose the name of the person arrested or any further details about the people who died. Police are expected to release more information later Tuesday.
KOTV