Louisiana authorities have identified eight children aged three to 11 who were killed on Sunday in what police described as a 'violent domestic incident' in Shreveport. The gunman, 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, fatally shot the children – including seven of his own – at two separate houses before being shot dead by police after a car chase.
The Caddo parish coroner's office named the victims as Jayla Elkins (3), Shayla Elkins (5), Kayla Pugh (6), Layla Pugh (6), Markaydon Pugh (10), Sariahh Snow (11), Khedarrion Snow (6), and Braylon Snow (5). Two women were also injured: Shaneiqua Pugh, the gunman's wife and mother of four of his children, and another woman who is the mother of Elkins's three other children.
Police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon said Elkins shot the mother first and then killed the eight children. Elkins and Pugh had reportedly been arguing about their separation, over which they were due in court on Monday. Bordelon confirmed the shooting was 'entirely a domestic' case.
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith expressed shock, saying, 'My heart is just taken aback. I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur.' Mayor Tom Arceneaux described the killings as 'maybe the worst tragic situation' in recent memory. The attack is the deadliest US mass shooting since January 2024.
Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 2013 to 2020 and later worked for UPS. Relatives said he was stressed about his relationship with his wife and had expressed suicidal thoughts. His stepfather Marcus Jackson recalled Elkins saying, 'Some people don't come back from their demons.'
