Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation/Facebook
An Oklahoma mother killed herself and her three children last week after a three-hour standoff with police at her home, authorities said.
Brandy McCaslin was watching her three children — ages 9 months, 6 and 11 — during a supervised visitation, before she barricaded herself and her kids in their home, according to astatementon Facebook from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
“On the afternoon of July 20, 2023, officers with the Verdigris Police Department noticed fireworks erupting outside a home near East Dogwood Court and Cyrpress Street,” the bureau said. “Officers went to investigate and discovered an armed and barricaded woman inside the residence.”
After negotiations, police said a “stand-off ensued for the next three hours.”
“After no response, officers made entry into the home where they found McCaslin, along with her three children, dead inside,” the bureau wrote, adding, “It was determined that McCaslin shot all three kids and then turned the weapon on herself.”
OSBI Public Information Manager Hunter McKee said the stand-off began at around 4 p.m. local time after a Verdigris police officer — who was driving down the street — “knew there was something wrong," perTulsa World.
The officer first noticed a Roman candle shooting out of a smashed window in the garage, Verdigris Police Chief Jack Shackelford said, per the outlet.
Shackelford said the officer discovered a woman and some children in the garage, and the woman was using fireworks to signal for help.
She had reportedly come to the house with one child for a supervised visit, but McCaslin pointed a gun at her, grabbed her own child and locked the woman and two other children in the garage, police said, per the outlet.
Shackelford said the woman and the two kids who were with her managed to escape after police arrived,Tulsa Worldreported. The outlet added that the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service’s SWAT team also responded to the scene.
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“I’m just at a loss for words,” Pitre added, the outlet reports. “My heart’s just like — I don’t know. I’m just numb right now.”
In a post onFacebook, Jacobson wrote, “Please keep us in your prayers. Brandy McCaslin did a murder suicide with all three kids. Billy, Noe, Bryce, and Brandy have all passed."
“When brandy McCaslin tried to commit suicide in January, she tried to change my son’s name because she was mad at me because I wasn’t coming back to her. His name was Billy from day one," he wrote.
“I never stopped calling him anything but that and it was wrong of her to do so,” Jacobson added. “Out of respect to me and my son, who had no choice in the loss of his life due to his mother. Please do not refer to my child as anything but Billy. He deserves that”
The Verdigris Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
