Louisiana authorities have identified eight children aged three to 11 who were fatally shot on Sunday in what police described as a 'violent domestic incident' in Shreveport. The gunman, 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his own children and one other child at two separate addresses before being shot dead by police.
The Caddo parish coroner’s office named the victims as Jayla Elkins, three; Shayla Elkins, five; Kayla Pugh, six; Layla Pugh, six; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, six; and Braylon Snow, five. Two women were also wounded, including the gunman’s wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, who is the mother of four of his children. The other injured woman is the mother of Elkins’s three other children.
Police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon said the shooting followed an argument about the couple’s separation, over which they were due in court on Monday. Elkins first shot a mother and then killed the eight children, Bordelon told the Associated Press. Detective work was ongoing, but the incident was 'entirely a domestic' case. Elkins had been arrested in 2019 on a firearms charge, but no prior domestic violence issues were known.
Mayor Tom Arceneaux described the killings as 'maybe the worst tragic situation' in recent memory. Shreveport police chief Wayne Smith said he was 'taken aback'. The US Army confirmed Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 2013 to 2020 as a signals and fire support specialist, and later worked for UPS.
Relatives told the New York Times that Elkins had been struggling with mental health. On Easter Sunday, he called his mother and stepfather, saying he wanted to take his own life and that his wife wanted a divorce. His stepfather, Marcus Jackson, recalled Elkins saying, 'Some people don’t come back from their demons.' His mother, Mahelia Elkins, said she had not known the extent of his problems. She had been a teenage crack addict and raised by a family friend, Betty Walker.
The killings are the deadliest US mass shooting since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb. No motive has been confirmed, and the Louisiana State Police are investigating the officers' fatal shooting of Elkins.
