A gunman in Louisiana killed eight children, including seven of his own, and shot two other people Sunday in an early morning attack of domestic violence carried out across two houses, authorities said.
The victims ranged in age from three to 11 years old and one of the adults wounded was the mother of the suspect’s children, said Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. Investigators did not say what may have set off the violence.
The suspect, whom Bordelon identified as Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit. Officers fired at the suspect during a chase after he carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint, Bordelon said.
Bordelon said there was still much to investigate but detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”
He said the suspect had been arrested in 2019 in a firearms case. Bordelon said police were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.
“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” he said.
A gunman in Shreveport, La., killed eight children ranging in age from three to 11, many of them members of his family. The shooter died in a confrontation with police.
Police said the attacks began before sunrise in a neighbourhood south of downtown Shreveport when the suspect shot a woman at one home and then drove to the other location “where this heinous act was carried out.”
Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape, Bordelon said.
State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to get away through the back door. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.
A gunman in Louisiana opened fire in domestic-related shootings at two homes, killing eight children, according to Shreveport police. A total of 10 people were shot, with victims ranging in age from about one to 14 years old.
Relative says suspect, wife were separating
Shamar Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court Monday, said Crystal Brown, a cousin to one of the wounded women.
Brown said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.
“He murdered his children,” Brown said. “He shot his wife.”
Elkins shared four children with his wife and three children with another woman who lived close by and who was also shot, according to Brown. All the children were together at one house, she said.
Brown described all the children as “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet.”
‘Irreversible harm’
Liza Demming, who lives two houses down from where one of the attacks happened, said her security camera captured video of the suspect running away, along with the sound of two shots.
“That’s pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house and the cars leaving,” she said.
Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof. She said she did not know the gunman’s name.
“He looks like the dad that comes over here,” she said, adding that he was just with the children a few days ago.
Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr., of nearby St. Gabriel Community Baptist Church, who owns one of the homes where the shootings occurred, said a person who works for him had rented it to the family, but he never had dealings with them.
“I don’t really know them, I really don’t,” he said. “I do plan on having a prayer vigil for the family, and anything I can do, with so many children, to help them bury the children, I’m going to do so.”
The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office released a statement on Sunday saying it was not yet releasing any of the children’s names because identification of the victims was pending.
Police said two women who were shot and wounded were being treated for serious injuries.
“What began as a domestic dispute has ended in irreversible harm,” the parish’s district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Deadliest in more than two years
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.
“I just don’t know what to say. My heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”
“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It’s a terrible morning.”
Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate. In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting that involved an officer after a police pursuit into Bossier City on Sunday morning.
State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Shreveport, said in separate statements that they were heartbroken and praised law enforcement for their response.
“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 said in a statement.