Mother and 3 children found dead after hours-long standoff with Oklahoma police

A woman and her three children were found dead in an Oklahoma home on Thursday evening in what may be a murder-suicide following an hours-long standoff, authorities said.

Police are not identifying the woman or children at this time, CBS affiliate KOTV reported.

The standoff began in the small town of Verdigris, a suburb east of Tulsa, after a woman told a patrolling police officer at around 4 p.m. that another woman with a gun held her hostage in a garage, Police Chief Jack Shackleford said, KOKI-TV reported.

The woman also said there were children in the home and the officer called for reinforcements, Shackleford said.

Several agencies surrounded the house, including a SWAT team from the Cherokee Nation.

Authorities entered the home around 7:30 p.m. and found the bodies of the woman and three children, believed to range in age from several months to around 11 years old.

A handgun was found at the scene and the killings are being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said.

Shackleford said officers went to the home several times in the past on domestic and mental health calls, KOKI-TV reported.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is probing the incident, KOTV reported.

About 600 murder-suicides occur yearly in the United States, accounting for 1,000 to 1,500 deaths, according to an article posted by the FBI in October. Previous data from National Violent Death Reporting System showed that the vast majority (91.4%) of murder-suicides were committed by males, according to the article.