5 children, 1 adult killed in Oklahoma shooting
Five children and one man were killed in a shooting in Oklahoma on Feb 2, 2021. (Photo: Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma: Five young children and one adult were shot to death early on Tuesday (Feb 2) morning at a home in Oklahoma.
A 25-year-old Oklahoma man is in custody on first-degree murder complaints for the killings, police said.
Police in Muskogee said they do not yet know why Jarron Deajon Pridgeon fatally shot Javarion Lee, 24, or the children, the oldest of whom was nine years old.
The children's mother, Brittany Anderson, was also wounded in the shooting and was hospitalised in Tulsa.
Police identified the slain children as Jalaiya Pridgeon, one; Jaidus Pridgeon, three; Harmony Anderson, five; Neveah Pridgeon, six; and Que’dynce Anderson, nine.
Jail records do not list an attorney who could speak on Pridgeon’s behalf.
Pridgeon and the victims lived in the home where the shootings occurred, Muskogee police said.
Neighbours told the Muskogee Phoenix that they had only recently moved to the home but that the children were often outside playing.
Raven Anderson, who is an aunt to the children, told Tulsa TV station KOTV that Pridgeon was the father of three of the slain children.
“They were great kids, they were smart, full of happiness, energy. They were, they just loved life,” she said. “Honestly it would just be great if everyone just continued to pray.”
Muskogee is a city of just under 40,000 people about 70km southeast of Tulsa.
