Woman, three children found dead in home in suspected murder-suicide

A woman and three children were found dead in an Oklahoma home Thursday evening in what authorities are calling a likely murder-suicide.

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The four bodies were found after an hours-long standoff with law enforcement officers in the town of Verdigris, a suburb east of Tulsa, authorities said.

Police have not identified any of the dead, KOTV reported.

Verdigris Police Chief Jack Shackleford said that a patrol officer was flagged down around 4 p.m. Thursday by a woman who said she had been held hostage in a garage by a woman who brandished a gun, KOKI-TV reported.

The woman pointed out the home to the officer and said that there were children in the home with the woman who had held her hostage. According to Shackleford, police had been called to the home several times in the past.

After an hours-long standoff, police entered the home around 7:30 p.m. to find the bodies of the woman and three children ranging in age from 11 years old to an infant described as being several months old.

According to police, the killings are being investigated as a murder-suicide. The names of the victims have not been released, KOKI-TV reported.