Three masked teenagers armed with a knife and brass knuckles broke into a home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in the middle of the day only to be shot dead by the homeowner’s son.
According to Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office, the homeowner and his son were inside the home when the teens broke in. The teens, ages 16, 17, and 18, were wearing masks and gloves. One of the teens had a knife and another had brass knuckles, according to Deputy Nick Mahoney.
“These three individuals came to this residence with the intent to burglarize it,” Mahoney said, “One was with brass knuckles, the other one was with a knife.”
The son of the homeowner was sleeping when he was awakened by “loud bangs” coming from the back door around 12:30pm on Monday. The 23-year-old man armed himself with his semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and made his way towards the back door where he confronted the three burglars.
“There was a short exchange of words, then gunfire happened,” Mahoney said. “Armed with a rifle, there were some shots fired, and, at this point, three people are deceased.”
Neighbor Leon Simmons heard the shots and said, “Well, I thought it was thunder, I just heard something, I had the doors closed.”
Two of the teens died in the kitchen and the third died in the driveway as he attempted to flee the scene.
A fourth person was arrested. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth Marie Rodriguez turned herself into police and is suspected of being the driver of the car for the teens. No bond has been set for Rodriguez.
Preliminary investigation looks like it’s self-defense,” said Mahoney.
Neighbors in the area are concerned that this attempted burglary could be related to other crimes. Neighbor Leon Simmons told Newson6 that his home was burglarized a just a few months ago and a few weeks ago. Simmons also said that burglaries occurred at his neighbors’ houses.
“Within the past six months we’ve had two or three burglaries out here,” said Simmons.”We’ve noticed a lot more people driving slow through the neighborhood, more than one at a time.”
Investigators said it was too early to know if the teens were connected with previous burglaries in the area.
Neither the homeowner or the son are thought to face charges and are cooperating with police.
Become an insider!
Sign up to get breaking alerts from Sons of Liberty Media.