Eight children were killed in a shooting involving two houses in the Louisiana city of Shreveport on Sunday, marking the country’s deadliest mass shooting since January 2024.
Seven of the victims were children of the suspected shooter. Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said Sunday that two women, including the gunman’s wife, were also shot but survived and are being treated for “serious injuries.” Another child, a boy aged 13, had reportedly jumped off the roof of one of the homes in an apparent attempt to escape the shooting, and police have said that his injuries are not life-threatening.
The suspected gunman has been identified as Shamar Elkins, whom Bordelon said police killed after a pursuit, and police believe there are no other suspects. While a motive is still being investigated, Bordelon said that the incident was “domestic” in nature.
“This is a tragic situation—maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said in a press conference early Sunday.
The Sunday mass shooting was the deadliest in the U.S. since a gunman killed eight people in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. According to nonprofit tracker Gun Violence Archive, the year 2026 already saw at least 114 mass shootings, which it defines as a minimum of four victims shot—either injured or killed—not including the shooter.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry posted on X that he and his wife were “heartbroken” over the “horrific” incident.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents Louisiana’s fourth congressional district that includes part of Shreveport, posted on X that he has spoken with Arceneaux and the law enforcement agencies currently investigating “to pledge any assistance we can possibly provide.”
“There are no words,” Rep. Cleo Fields, (D, La.), who represents the state’s sixth congressional district including the part of Shreveport where the shooting occurred, said in a statement.
Here’s what to know.
Shreveport police officers responded to reports of a domestic disturbance at the 300 block of West 79th Street just after 6 a.m. According to preliminary police information, the suspect first shot one of the women in a house on Harrison Street, before traveling to West 79th Street, where he shot the other victims.
According to NBC News, Bordelon said that many of the children appeared to have been shot in their sleep, with most shot in the head. “It is a disgusting and evil scene,” Bordelon added.
The suspect reportedly carjacked a male nearby, and police, after locating the vehicle he stole, chased him into the next parish, where they opened fire at him. Bordelon added that the suspect carried a "rifle-style pistol” when police confronted and killed him, according to NBC News.
The Caddo Parish Coroner’s office said autopsies were ordered for all the victims, who were identified in a press release as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5. Seven of them are siblings, and one is their cousin.
Who was the shooter?
According to the New York Times, citing public records, Elkins, 31, had been previously convicted at least twice: in 2019 on a firearms case after a man in a car pulled a gun on him and he fired his own weapon, and in 2016 for driving while intoxicated.
The Army, in a statement to the media, said Elkins also served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years until August 2020, but he was not deployed. He served as a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist.
The Associated Press reported that Elkins and his wife were in the middle of a separation and had been arguing about it before the shooting, according to Crystal Brown, a cousin of one of the wounded women. Brown told the AP that Elkins shared four children with his wife and three with another woman who lived close by, and Brown added that Elkins and his wife were due in court Monday.
Relatives of Elkins speaking to the Times said he had been recently struggling with his mental health and his relationship with his wife.
The Times reported that on Easter Sunday earlier this month, Elkins called his mother Mahelia and his stepfather Marcus Jackson. The two told the Times that their son sounded despondent and had said through tears that he wanted to take his own life as he was inundated with “dark thoughts” as his wife sought a divorce.
“I told him, ‘You can beat stuff, man. I don’t care what you’re going through, you can beat it,’” Jackson said. “Then I remember him telling me: ‘Some people don’t come back from their demons.’”
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