Teen Brothers Arrested in Oklahoma Deaths of 5 Kin

Police say they saw the two running out the back door of the home.

ByABC News
July 23, 2015, 6:51 PM

— -- The community in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, is still reeling after two teenage brothers were arrested in the fatal stabbings of five members of their family.

"I've been here 19 years and I don't know if we've had more than three homicides in a year," said Broken Arrow Police Cpl. Leon Calhoun, the department spokesman. "This is the worst single criminal event in Broken Arrow history."

Around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said they responded to a silent 911 call at a home in suburban Tulsa and saw two young men running out the back door.

Police canines tracked the two, Robert Bever, 18, and a 16-year-old in the woods behind the house. Both teens were arrested.

Inside the home, police found the bodies of the teens’ parents, David and April Bever; 12-year-old and 17-year-old brothers; and a 5-year-old sister.

"It weighs a lot on us," said Sgt. Thomas Cooper, "especially when the victims involved are juveniles."

Two siblings survived the rampage -- a 13-year-old sister was in the hospital today with stab wounds. The baby of the family, a 2-year-old, was not injured. Police said they suspected that the 13-year-old had made the 911 call.

Neighbors said today that the family had been a mystery for years.

"We didn't know a lot about them because they stayed to themselves," Austin Mahan said. "They weren't real social. The kids were home-schooled. They just kind of stayed with themselves."

Police said they did not yet have a motive for the slayings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.