It’s the worst mass murder in the U.S. in more than two years.
Eight children were shot to death in Shreveport early Sunday morning.
Seven were siblings, and an eighth was a cousin.
“Seven of those eight kids, we have determined, were killed by their father,” says Shreveport Police Cpl. Christopher Bordelon. “We are confirming that identity of the father is (31-year-old) Shamar Elkins.”
Bordelon says a ninth child was able to escape.
“That child was transported to the hospital with injuries from jumping off the roof to get away,” says Cpl. Bordelon.
Bordelon says Elkins first went into a home on Harrison St. and shot his wife inside.
“She was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries,” says Bordelon. “She is still alive at this time, and we are hopeful that she will pull through.”
Elkins then went into a home on W. 79th St. a short distance away and shot another woman before shooting all eight children execution-style.
While the investigation is in the early stages, detectives say this all stemmed from an argument related to the separation Elkins had been going through with his wife; in fact, the two were scheduled to have a court hearing Monday.
After the shootings, Elkins carjacked someone at 79th St. and Lynwood Ave., which is the nearest major intersection.
“Shreveport Police patrol officers got behind that vehicle, and they chased it,” Bordelon said at an earlier news conference. “The vehicle was chased into Bossier Parish, and at which point in time Shreveport Police officers did discharge their firearms, and that individual is deceased.”
No police officers were hurt during the pursuit or the ensuing shooting.
The Caddo Parish coroner’s office says all eight victims were identified by their mothers:
- Jayla Elkins, 3
- Shayla Elkins, 5
- Kayla Pugh, 6
- Layla Pugh, 7
- Markaydon Pugh, 10
- Braylon Snow, 5
- Khedarrion Snow, 6
- Sariahh Snow, 11
Bordelon says Elkins had a criminal history, with prior convictions for weapons violations.
It’s unclear at this time whether Elkins had any prior arrests for domestic violence.
According to a database on mass shootings in the U.S., this is the deadliest mass shooting since eight were killed in a suburb of Chicago in January of 2024.
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” said Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux. “It’s a terrible morning in Shreveport, and we all mourn the victims.”
The tragedy has shaken the entire Shreveport community to the core.
“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” said Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith. “I just cannot again imagine how such an event can occur.”
“I think about the mother and what this family has lost,” a visibly emotional City Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor told a Sunday news conference. “I think about this community and what this community has lost. And I don’t have the words to give you, and I’m sorry.”
State Representative Tammy Phelps, whose district includes the location where this incident occurred, says this tragedy is gut-wrenching for the entire community, especially those who were called to the scene.
“I can’t even imagine what the first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” said Phelps. “To hear children escaping out of the back door, and as we often forget what they go through mentally as well.”
Caddo Parish Commissioner Ronald Cothran says this is further proof that domestic violence remains a major problem in Shreveport, in Louisiana and all across the country, and something needs to be done to break the cycle.
“We have to do something differently,” said Cothran. “We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect different results.”
Other elected officials had weighed in with their thoughts earlier in the day Sunday.
“I am deeply saddened by the senseless loss of life,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement posted onto social media. “I’m praying for the victims and their family members in the wake of this devastating violence.”
“I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the eight innocent children whose lives were cut tragically short in the Cedar Grove neighborhood this morning,” said Congressman Cleo Fields, whose district includes the location of the mass shooting. “I am also praying for the two women who were injured — one of whom remains in critical condition — and I ask that all of Louisiana join me in lifting them up.
“What occurred in today’s early morning hours is, as Mayor Arceneaux said, perhaps one of the worst tragedies this city has ever seen. A crime scene spanning four locations, eight children gone ranging in age from just one to fourteen years old — there are no words.”
