SHREVEPORT, Louisiana — Eight children lost their lives and two women were wounded in what officials are calling the most devastating mass shooting in the United States in more than two years, occurring Sunday in a Shreveport neighborhood.
The perpetrator, 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, fatally shot seven of his own children along with one other child before taking his own life following a police chase, according to law enforcement officials.
During a press conference held outside one of the shooting locations, city officials struggled to comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy.
“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” Mayor Tom Arceneaux told reporters in the northwestern Louisiana city.
The violence unfolded across two locations in a residential area south of downtown Shreveport. According to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon, Elkins first shot a woman at one residence before traveling to a second home where the children were located.
At the second residence, seven children were discovered dead inside the house, while an eighth child was found deceased on the rooftop after attempting to flee. One child managed to survive by jumping from the roof and was hospitalized with injuries expected to heal.
State Representative Tammy Phelps revealed that some of the young victims attempted to escape through the rear exit of the home. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” Phelps stated during the news conference.
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith expressed his shock at the scene. “I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Smith said.
The victims ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old and included three boys and five girls, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office.
Crystal Brown, a relative of one of the wounded women, described the children as “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet.”
Law enforcement officials pursued Elkins following the shootings, with the chase concluding when officers opened fire on the suspect. Bordelon confirmed that investigators believe this was “entirely a domestic incident,” though authorities have not disclosed what triggered the violence.
While Elkins had a 2019 firearms arrest on his record, police were unaware of any previous domestic violence incidents involving him.
According to Brown, Elkins and his wife were going through a separation and had been scheduled to appear in court Monday. She said the couple had been fighting about their relationship status before the shooting occurred.
“He murdered his children,” Brown stated. “He shot his wife.”
Brown explained that Elkins had fathered four children with his wife and three with another woman who lived nearby and was also shot. All the children had been gathered at one residence when the attack took place.
Community members responded to the tragedy by placing flowers outside the single-story home on 79th Street where the shooting occurred. An evening prayer service was held in a nearby parking lot, where residents lit candles to honor the victims.
“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” said vigil attendee Kimberlin Jackson.
The Shreveport shooting represents the deadliest mass shooting in America since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago-area incident, according to data compiled by The Associated Press and USA Today with Northeastern University. Shreveport has approximately 180,000 residents.
