A Louisiana community is reeling from a “catastrophic” shooting in which a man killed seven of his children and another child and seriously injured his wife and a woman described as his girlfriend.
Police have identified the man, who also died, as Shamar Elkins.
Shreveport Councilman Grayson Boucher said the city has “a true epidemic of domestic violence.”
“That is something that should be a top priority of the city’s administration, the City Council and law enforcement,” he said at a news conference Monday.
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said Sunday that it may be the “worst tragic situation we’ve ever had.”
The shootings that took place Sunday involved multiple scenes, according to police, who said it began just after 6 a.m. following reports of a domestic disturbance.
Here is everything we know about the shootings.
Multiple people shot after domestic violence incident
Police said Elkins first shot a woman on Harrison Street before heading to a home in the 300 block of West 79th Street, where he gunned down all eight children.
He then fled and carjacked a person at gunpoint. Police had initially said that the suspect was killed by officers, but at Monday's news conference, Police Chief Wayne Smith said it's unclear whether he killed himself or was shot by officers.
The Louisiana State Police is investigating Elkins' shooting.
Smith released a timeline of events. Around 5:55 a.m., he said, police received a call about a disturbance at the West 79th Street home. The caller said they were on top of a house and the suspect was inside, and that a male had been shot, Smith told reporters.
Minutes later, dispatchers received another call saying that the suspect was a relative of the caller and that about nine people lived inside the home. The caller said the suspect had "shot everyone inside the home," the chief said.
At 6 a.m., police received a call from a woman who said that she and her children had fled the roof and were now in the backyard. Smith said officers were at the scene at 6:01 a.m. and "made contact" with the caller.
Smith said that at 6:07 a.m., dispatch received a second call about the shooting on Harrison Street. The caller said her boyfriend had shot her, taken her three children and fled, the chief said.
At 6:15 a.m., police received a call about the carjacking. Traffic units who were on patrol saw the carjacked vehicle and pursued it. The chief said that at 6:29 a.m., officers made contact with the suspect "through an exchange of gunfire," and he was pronounced dead at 7:03 a.m.
"This by far was probably one of the most challenging incidents that SPD has ever faced," the chief said.
Who are the victims
The gunman shot 10 victims in all, including eight children.
Elkins is believed to be the father of seven of the children killed, police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon said. The eighth child was a cousin, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said.
Their mothers identified them 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.
Most of the children were shot in the head, Bordelon said. He said that it appears many of them were shot in their sleep. One child was found dead on the back roof.
"It is a disgusting and evil scene," he said.
The suspect’s wife and another woman believed to be his girlfriend were shot and seriously wounded. Authorities said the wife was shot in the face.
A teenager suffered injuries that were not life-threatening after falling off the roof during the violence, officials said.
Video from the scene showed blood and bullet holes on the door of the home.
Suspect was an Army veteran
The suspect served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist, the Army said in a statement. He never deployed and left as a private.
He was arrested in 2019 and convicted of illegal use of a firearm. Bordelon said the suspect was likely prohibited from legally owning firearms because of the conviction.
In a statement Monday, police said he acted alone in Sunday's shooting.
Motive still under investigation
A motive in the violent rampage is still under investigation.
"We know it’s domestic in nature, we know his wife is involved, and she is the mother of at least seven of the children, with the eighth being a family friend," Bordelon said.
A small-caliber handgun was used in some of the violence, authorities said. Elkins had a "rifle-style pistol" when police confronted and killed him, according to Bordelon.
The suspect’s Facebook page sheds very little light on what led up to the killings. In his last post Friday, he said he took his daughter on a "1 on 1 date" and shared a photo of the girl eating in the car.
"Had to catch her down bad ugh ugh," he wrote, including the laughing and hamburger emojis.
Another post showed him posing with the children on Easter.
In others, the suspect reposted a prayer about asking God "to help me guard my mind and my emotions" and reposted a message about men trying to fix their lives.
Neighbors say 'there is no sense' to shootings
Freddie and Marie Montgomery live across the street, but said they did not know the family well. They said the family had only been living in the home for about six months.
"When they brought all those kids out of that house, that’s just the worst thing I ever seen," Marie Montgomery said.
Freddie Montgomery said that before the shooting, he saw a man in the front yard and the children were outside playing. He said he waved and the man waved back. It’s not clear if the man he saw was Elkins.
"When we found out what had actually happened over there, it was just, just a shock," he said. "There is no sense in this."
Mack London, 71, lives on the same block but said he did not hear any gunfire. He learned of the killings from a neighbor when he went outside around 7 a.m. to close his gate.
London, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1991, said that kind of violence is unheard of.
"Nothing like this has ever happened on this street," he said. "It was bad. … I hate that it happened to those kids."
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said in a statement on X that he was "heartbroken" over the shooting.
In a statement on Facebook, Arceneaux said the entire community "is grieving the unimaginable loss of innocent children."
"There are no words that can make sense of it, and no distance that shields us from it," he said.
Many City Council members gathered near the home Sunday afternoon to pray. Through tears, Council Chair Tabatha Taylor said the children "had their whole life ahead of them."
"I’m going to ask the community, along with prayer, with every mental health consultant that is out there — this family and this community needs you," she said.
