Sand Springs Police Identify Victims, Suspect In Triple Murder-Suicide

The Sand Springs Police Department has released new details in what officers are calling a "gruesome" triple murder-suicide that happened over the weekend.

Related Story: OSBI Joins Sand Springs Police In Murder-Suicide Investigation

Police identified the victims as 41-year-old Anastacia (Stacy) Lynn Smith, her 4-year-old daughter River Gale Ross, and her 2-year-old daughter Piper Ann Ross.

Police said they believe 31-year old Phillip Ross killed his two little girls and their mother, before killing himself.

Chief Mike Carter said this was the worst thing he’s seen in his 28 years in law enforcement.

"The community is hurting right now because this tragedy not only affects the people that were there, but their loved ones, their friends, their churches. One of the things that makes Sand Springs great is we come together in times like this," said Carter.

"All four individuals received sharp force injuries, which is consistent with the evidence at the crime scene. We suspect that Phillip Ross committed three homicides and then took his own life but the outcome of this case will not be determined until the Medical examiner completes their investigation," said Capt. Todd Enzbrenner on Monday.

Police said the children’s grandmother is the one who found the family because she was supposed to babysit the little girls. Investigators said they found knives inside the house with blood on them. Witnesses told police they heard screaming, yelling and loud banging coming from the house the night before.

Police say they were called to the family's house near 41st Street and 129th West Avenue in Sand Springs at around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Investigators say when they arrived on the scene, they were able to get a search warrant to go inside the home where officers say they discovered all four people dead.

"Whenever children are involved it is tough. It's worse when a parent or a loved one commits those crimes. It's even worse in the manner at which this was done,” said Officer Todd Enzbrenner.

Police said right now they are still trying to figure out the motive behind this tragedy and the investigation is ongoing.

This is a developing story...