At least eight children were killed, and two adults were wounded in a mass shooting in the Louisiana city of Shreveport, in what police called a “domestic violence incident”.
Chris Bordelon, the Shreveport police department spokesperson, said on Sunday evening that the suspect, Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child.
The victims ranged in age from one to about 12 years old. The mother and another woman are in critical condition. Elkins died after a police pursuit.
Bordelon said the suspect had been arrested in 2019 in a firearms case.
Wayne Smith, Shreveport’s police chief, said the suspected killer was shot and killed by police after he committed a carjacking.
The violence occurred early on Sunday morning in Shreveport’s Cedar Grove neighborhood, with police suggesting there were at least four separate but nearby scenes involved in the deadly rampage. Investigators did not discuss a possible motive for the killings but said it appeared to be domestic in nature.
The relationship between the killer and the children means that Sunday’s mass murder in Shreveport fit the definition of a type of offense known since the 1980s as a family annihilation.
The overwhelming majority of these cases involve a male killer armed with a gun who ultimately kills himself or is killed after murdering multiple close family members. American communities tend to view family annihilations as isolated tragedies. But a July 2023 Indianapolis Star investigation found they had been occurring across the US every five days on average.
At a news conference, Shreveport mayor Tom Arceneaux said, “this is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve … had” in recent memory in the north-western Louisiana city of about 177,000 people.
“It’s a terrible morning in Shreveport, and we all know my heart goes out to this entire community for the tragic event that has taken place this morning,” Arceneaux said.
US House speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican whose congressional district includes Shreveport, issued a statement saying Sunday’s violence was “heartbreaking”.
“My team is in touch with local law enforcement as more details emerge,” Johnson’s statement said. “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.”
Heading into Sunday, there had been at least six mass murders across the US in 2026, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive – a non-partisan reference resources – defines mass murders as cases in which four or more victims are killed.
Liza Demming, who lives two doors down from one of the shooting scenes in Shreveport, told the Associated Press that her security camera captured video of the gunman running away toward a tire shop.
She said she could hear two shots on the audio.
“That’s pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house,” she said.
Demming said she later saw the covered body of one of the child victims laying on the roof of the house. But she said she never heard anything like a fight or argument.
“It was nothing loud, no altercations,” she said. “It was quiet.”
According to the AP, pastor Marty T Johnson Sr of the local St Gabriel community Baptist church owns the home where the shootings occurred. However, he said that he doesn’t know the family who rented the home and never had dealings with them.
Marty Johnson said a person who works for him had rented the home to the family.
He said all he knows is from what he’s heard from news reports and neighbors – but he’s ready to do whatever he can to help.
“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,” Marty Johnson said.
“We’ve got to take our community back, and we will.”
Cleo Fields, a Louisiana Democratic congressional representative, whose district also includes part of Shreveport, said the investigation into Sunday’s mass murder was “extensive and deeply painful”.
“A crime scene spanning four locations, eight children gone ranging in age from just one to fourteen years old – there are no words,” Fields said.
The Guardian
