Tragic Loss of 8 Children Leaves Louisiana Community Searching for Answers
SHREVEPORT, Louisiana — A quiet Sunday morning turned into a nightmare when a father armed with an assault-style weapon killed eight children before fleeing and dying in a police pursuit.
The shooter, identified as Shamar Elkins, gunned down seven of his own children plus another child, police said. Their ages ranged from 3 to 11 years old. Elkins’ wife and her sister were also shot but survived.
The attack unfolded before sunrise at two homes in Shreveport. One woman was shot in a neighborhood south of downtown. Then, blocks away, Elkins opened fire inside the home where the children were sleeping.
His brother‑in‑law, Troy Brown, said Elkins had recently spent a week in a VA hospital. “All I know is he just snapped,” Brown told the Associated Press. “If I wouldn’t have been at work, he was going to kill everybody in the house.”
Family members said Elkins and his wife, Shaneiqua Elkins, were separating and had been due in court Monday. The couple had been arguing about the split.
Despite a 2019 felony firearms conviction for illegal use of weapons, Elkins legally should have been banned from owning a gun for at least 10 years after completing his sentence. How and when he obtained the weapon remains under investigation.
Louisiana has expanded gun access in recent years, with Republicans blocking Democratic efforts to pass “red flag” laws or other restrictions.
One victim, 5‑year‑old Braylon Snow, was days away from his preschool graduation. “They have the cap and gowns just like you would have when you were graduating from high school,” a program director said.
Mourners lit candles Sunday night near a growing memorial of teddy bears and balloons. “It just makes you take your children and hug them,” said one attendee. “You just don’t know.”
The shooting is the deadliest mass killing in the US since January 2024.
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