In the wake of a house fire that took place on Thursday in the vicinity of Tulsa, Oklahoma, eight bodies were discovered inside the residence, and the local authorities have said that they are treating the incident as a murder investigation.
Ethan Hutchins, a spokesman for the Broken Arrow Police Department, said at a news conference late on Thursday that the identities of the victims were not immediately made public by the authorities; however, neighbours told the police that the house was occupied by a family consisting of two adults and six children, which the police were told by the neighbours.
According to a statement released by the Broken Arrow Police Department, the aftermath of the fire in the city of Broken Arrow, which has a population of around 116,000 people and is located approximately 15 miles southeast of the downtown area of Tulsa, is “a complicated situation.” The incident was reported a little after 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
At an earlier press conference, Mr. Hutchins said that “early indications,” according to police who were present at the site, revealed that they are investigating a murder.
The authorities did not immediately reveal any further information on the incident or the circumstances surrounding it, but they did state that they did not feel there was an imminent danger to the general public.
On Thursday night, Lisa Ford, a municipal councillor in Broken Arrow, said over the phone that any kind of violent behaviour in Broken Arrow is “certainly out of the ordinary.”
She requested that everyone pray by saying, “I simply want to beg everybody to pray.”
According to Mr. Hutchins, the inquiry is being helped along by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau.
