KNEWZ
An Oklahoma mother with a troubled background allegedly killed herself after shooting her three children, Knewz.comis learning.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced in a statement to the Tulsa World that Brandy McCaslin, 39, “shot all three kids and then turned the weapon on herself” Thursday, July 20.
KOTV identified the children as 11-year-old Noe, five-year-old Bryce and nine-month-old Billy.
Police in the town of Verdigris, northeast of Tulsa, hurried to a home after an officer noticed a Roman candle being fired through a garage door window.
Police found a woman and two children were locked in the garage. That woman claimed McCaslin pointed a gun at her and took one of her children.
The woman was at the home for what the OSBI called “a supervised visitation.”
Authorities were able to free the trapped people. But McCaslin reportedly refused to cooperate, leading to a three-hour standoff.
After hearing nothing for hours, officers finally forced their way into the home. They found four people dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
The father of the youngest victim feared something like this would occur.
“There was an incident in January where Brandy tried to commit suicide,” Billy Jacobson Sr. revealed. “They actually had to wrestle the gun out of her hand. Her nephew did and it was unsafe.”
After that, Jacobson filed for emergency custody of his son. McCaslin went into therapy. Then, he believes, an Oklahoma judge made a big mistake.
“She said ‘can I… can I have unsupervised visitation with my son back?’ And he just gave it to her,” Jacobson said.
“I basically watched my son fade from my hands,” he added.
It turned out that police had visited McCaslin’s home before. She had a history of substance abuse, and domestic violence calls became common.
A friend of the family noted McCaslin posted a picture of her youngest child and herself two days before the standoff, calling herself “so happy.” Yet the friend doubted that.
“I could tell by her face that she was struggling with something,” Lucretia Pitre said. “She just looked sad.”
She added that McCaslin had endured the deaths of several family members, including her mother and sister.
KJRH-TV reported a memorial for the victims grew on a tree outside the northeast Oklahoma home.
“The pitiful part is those kids had nothing to do with it,” neighbor Bill Salwaechter said. “Those kids were the future of America.”
If any good can come from this case, Jacobson hopes Oklahoma lawmakers will change custody laws.