A man has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of six people, including five grandchildren, in Oklahoma earlier this week as officials and reports reveal new details.
Police have arrested Jarron Deajon Pridgeon, 25, on a charge of first-degree murder for allegedly killing the six victims, including children ages 1, 3, 5, 6 and 9, police said. The adult victim, 24-year-old Javarion Lee, is said to be Pridgeon’s brother.
Raven Anderson, who is an aunt of the children, told Tulsa TV station KOTV that Pridgeon was the father of three of the children killed. Police officer Lynn Hamlin said the suspect and victims all live in the home.
“They were wonderful children, smart, full of happiness, energy. They just loved life,” she said. “Honestly, it would be great if everyone just kept praying.”
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Investigators said they did not yet know what had caused the suspect.
“How do you describe it? It’s tragic. They’re babies. You can not understand it. You can not process it. You just can not,” neighbor Susan Dvorak told local subsidiary FOX25. The family only lived in the house for about a month, she said.
Officers received a call to the Muskogee home in Indiana Street around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, where they arrived to get the suspect – later identified as Pridgeon – outside and carry a gun, according to police and FOX23 in Tulsa.
At one point during the encounter, an officer once fired his service rifle, but he missed the suspect, who fled the area.
Officers at the scene found the adult victim and four children dead inside. A fifth child was rushed to a Tulsa hospital but could not be rescued, police said.
According to FOX23, there were three other children in the house during the shooting who were not injured.
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The children’s mother, Brittany Anderson, was also shot and wounded, but was in a stable condition Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Hamlin said Pridgeon is not working with investigators. Prison records do not contain a lawyer who can speak on behalf of Pridgeon.
Muskogee is a city of just under 40,000 people about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa.
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Two of the children who died were students at the local Creek Elementary, Muskogee Public Schools confirmed on Facebook.
“We are saddened by this tragic loss and express our deepest sympathy to all those affected,” said Dr. Jarod Mendenhall, superintendent of Muskogee Public Schools, said. “No words can adequately express our grief over the loss of these students, and our thoughts and prayers are with this family.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.