Kingfisher County Sheriff Dennis Banther said authorities had released the scene near Lacey Tuesday morning where four people were confi rmed killed and another seriously injured after a shooting Sunday at the marijuana grow facility located there.

Banther said that a warrant for the arrest of a suspect was issued about 10:45 a.m. Monday at the request of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which was called in to assist Sunday night.

At press-time Tuesday, the search was still continuing for the suspect, whose identity has not been made public. (The arrest warrant is not a public record until an arrest is made and the document is filed with the county court clerk’s office.)

Banther confirmed that the suspect is male and he and the five victims are Asians with ties to the grow facility and the gun violence arose in connection with an internal dispute and was not a random shooting.

No other identifying information regarding the victims was released as of press-time.

By 5 p.m. Monday, Banther said he was “certain” the shooter was no longer in the area.

Separate from the homicide investigation, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs seized and destroyed all marijuana plants found on the scene Monday when it was determined the grower was operating without a valid license from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, Banther said.

The company operating the facility was identified as Liu and Chen Inc., which was listed in the OMMA database as having an expired license as of Nov. 1.

The sheriff’s office received a call about 7:24 p.m. Sunday of a potential hostage situation on the scene.

Once deputies arrived and attempted to secure the location on N 2760 Road, Banther said they discovered an individual with gunshot wounds.

That individual received medical attention and was eventually flown to a hospital by helicopter.

Once deputies searched other scenes on the property, four other people were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds, Banther said.

“We immediately called in the OSBI for assistance with interviews and to work the crime scene because it’s such a large area,” Banther said. The sheriff noted he counted more than 80 grow houses on the 10-acre property.

Banther said a Chinese interpreter was also brought to the location to interview witnesses at the scene who were not injured.

Investigators and crime scene technicians were able to begin more thorough work at about 3 a.m. when a search warrant was secured for two of the locations. More search warrants were secured later Monday, Banther said.

Also on the scene Monday were Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Hennessey Fire Department, Life EMS, Air Evac Lifeteam and a medical examiner.

The marijuana grow facility is one of 72 in the county listed in the OMMA database and one of 7,585 growers in the state, according to the OMMA online database.

In addition to the facility near Lacey, another 10 county growers are listed with expired licenses, according to the database. It was not clear how many of those with invalid licenses are still operating.

Five growers are listed in the Hennessey area.

Kingfisher County also is home to 12 medical marijuana processors and seven dispensaries, according to the database.