Authorities Not Sure How Family Died In Apparent Murder-Suicide

Police are investigating the deaths of two adults and two children as a murder-suicide. 

Detectives with the Sand Springs Police Department and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said it appears one of the parents is responsible for killing their family members. 

Matt Covington lives nearby at the Sunburst Estates in Sand Springs where tragedy struck on Saturday afternoon.

"When you hear something as tragic and as crazy as something like that, it makes you think about, you know, what can I do as one person to try and help the community?" Covington said. 

Investigators said the grandmother went to check on her granddaughters at the family's house near 41st Street and 129th West Avenue. There is where she found her loved ones dead inside the home.

The victims are two adults — a 41-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man — and their four-year-old and two-year-old daughters.

Covington, a new dad himself, said he can't imagine what their grandmother is going through.

"She is an extremely strong woman to be able to see that and now be able to live with it. That's going to be super, super tough," Covington said. "I'm recently having a kid and that's something I'm a little nervous about myself. Like, do I really want to bring them out in the world today, you know?"

Due to the graphic nature of the scene, Sand Springs Police Department Captain Todd Enzbrenner said the department will provide resources to help the officers cope with that they had to see. 

"It's traumatic for everybody that's involved,” Enzbrenner said. “Our guys are professionals and they're going to do their jobs, but they're also human and they feel the pain of seeing dead children.”

Officers said they interviewed neighbors and other family members and do not have reason to believe there are any other suspects.

Covington said this is a loss for the community and they need to lean on each other going forward.

"Checking on your neighbor and that kind of thing can go a long way. You never know. Or maybe, you could save somebody's life," Covington said. 

Officers are still not saying how the victims died. They are also not releasing the victims' names until all family members have been notified.