A gunman in Louisiana killed eight children, seven of them his own, and critically wounded two women on Sunday, police said.
The suspected gunman, identified as Shamar Elkins, 31, shot a woman in one home before killing eight children at a second location, police confirmed.
The children were aged between 1 and 12 years old. One of the women shot was the mother of the suspect’s children, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. She and a second woman remain in critical condition, while Elkins was killed after a police pursuit.
Seven children were found shot inside a home and an eighth child was found dead on the roof after they apparently tried to escape the attack, Bordelon added.
Authorities did not say what may have set off the violence but Bordelon said detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.” It marks the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since January 2024, CNN reports.
Earlier Sunday, Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said he was “taken aback” by the horrifying shooting.
“My heart goes out to this entire community for the tragic event that has taken place this morning,” Smith said. “I just don’t know what to say. My heart is just taken aback. I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur.”
He said the crime scene was “unlike anything most of us have ever seen.”
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux added. “It’s a terrible morning in Shreveport.”
State Representative Tammy Phelps said at a news conference that she had “chills” after arriving at the scene.
“This is actually the district where I grew up, so it’s actually still close to home,” she told USA TODAY. “Once getting here, and hearing the story of…what actually happened in the home. I still have chills right now.”
Local leaders with connections to the area were equally shocked by the violence.
Satonia Small, who runs a local grassroots organization, told the outlet that she was “just overwhelmed today for this to happen in my community.”
Shreveport city councilman Grayson Boucher said the shooting doubled the city’s homicide rate in a single day.
“I’ve struggled all morning since I woke up,” Boucher said. “Over 30 percent of our crimes and 30 percent of our murders in the city of Shreveport are domestic in relation. Now, that number has gone up. We more than doubled our homicides in the city of Shreveport because of one act of domestic violence.”
Mack London, 71, told NBC News that he has lived in the neighborhood since 1991 and had never seen anything approaching the level of violence on display Sunday.
“Nothing like this has ever happened on this street,” he said. “It was bad…I hate that it happened to those kids.”
Another neighbor, Marie Montgomery, told the broadcaster that the removal of the children from the house was the worst thing she had ever witnessed.
“When they brought all those kids out of that house, that’s just the worst thing I ever seen,” she said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Shreveport, issued a statement on Sunday saying his team was in communication with local investigators.
“We’re holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” Johnson wrote on X.
He said he had spoken with Arceneaux and described the shooting as a domestic issue that spiraled into violence.
“I just spoke with @ShreveportMayor Tom Arceneaux about the situation and the multiple law enforcement agencies currently engaged in the investigation to pledge any assistance we can possibly provide,” he wrote. “What apparently began as a domestic dispute this morning ended in a mass shooting with ten people shot—including eight children, ages 1 to 14, who all lost their lives.” Police said earlier the ages ranged from 1 to 14, before adjusting the number Sunday evening.
Members of Shreveport’s City Council visited the scene on Sunday afternoon where they held a public prayer for the victims and their families, NBC News reports.
Shreveport City Council chair Tabatha Taylor said the children killed “had their whole life ahead of them.”
“This is the result when someone snaps,” Taylor said. “So, I’m going to ask the community, along with prayer, with every mental health consultant that is out there — this family and this community needs you.”
Elkins had been arrested in 2019 in a firearms case, officials say. He previously served in the Louisiana National Guard, according to Fox News Digital.
“Shamar D. Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a Signal Support System Specialist (25U) and a Fire Support Specialist (13F),” an Army official told the outlet. “He has no deployment. He left the Army as a private.”
The city of Shreveport is in northwestern Louisiana, with a population of around 180,000.
