A 25-year-old man, Jarron Deajon Pridgeon, has killed a family of six overnight in Muskogee, 45 miles southeast of Tulsa. The suspect was taken into custody after shooting five children and an adult to death in their Indiana Street home. He also shot another woman who survived after receiving treatment in the hospital.
The mass murder appeared to have been committed by the suspect’s family members. The names of the victims are Javarion Lee, 24, who is the suspect’s own brother; Jalaiya Pridgeon, 1; Jaidus Pridgeon, 3; Harmony Anderson, 5; Neveah Pridgeon, 6; and Que’dynce Anderson, 9. The name of the woman that survived is Brittany Anderson.
According to the police, three other children who lived inside the home were not injured following the arrival of law enforcement, but the suspect could have ended up wiping out everyone if the police had not arrived in time.
The shooting incident occurred at about 1 at past midnight. Police received a distress call from neighbors at about 1:30 a.m. that a shooting was ongoing in the house, and officers arrived to find Jarron holding a gun. He was ordered to drop the gun but he refused, and an officer fired his service rifle once at him but missed.
“An officer fires at that suspect, who doesn’t drop the weapon,” said Lynn Hamlin, with the Muskogee Police Department. “That officer misses. The subject takes off running. There’s a short pursuit, and he’s taken into custody. All subjects involved lived inside the home. And (we) don’t know the relationship at this time, and just that they all lived inside the home.”
Hamlin said a motive for the killing has not been established and that Jarron is not cooperating with investigators. Hamlin however made it clear that it is not a random incident and that the suspect appeared to be acting alone and not in collaboration with any accomplices. She said the suspect and victims lived in the same home, and neighbors said they had been living in the home for one month.
Brittany’s sister, Raven, said her sister and all her slain children are wonderful people who did not deserve what happened to them. Other neighbors in the street have also expressed great shock at the incident and prayed for the repose of the slain children. “My sister and her children were a great family,” Raven Anderson said. “If they had known them, they would have loved them and cherished them.”
Source: foxnews.com
