Eight children are dead, and two women are hospitalized after a gunman opened fire in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 19. The Shreveport Police Department (SPD) has identified the suspect as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, who officers later killed following a vehicle chase and shootout in nearby Bossier City.
Officers responded to the Cedar Grove Neighborhood just after 6 a.m. after receiving reports of a domestic disturbance. According to details provided at an SPD press conference, Elkins first shot a woman at a home on Harrison Street before driving to a 79th Street home in the neighborhood, where all eight children were killed.
The victims have been identified 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. The coroner also reported that the victims were five girls and three boys, ranging in age from 3 to 11, comprising seven siblings and one cousin, per The News Star.
Investigators confirmed that Elkins was the father of seven of the eight children.
Seven of the children were recovered inside the home. An eighth was found deceased on the roof of the home, where some of the children had attempted to escape. A teenager sustained non-life-threatening injuries after jumping from the roof, and two additional adult women were shot and seriously wounded during the attack. SPD investigators identified one of those women as Elkins’ wife and the mother of the children. Both women were later transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment and are reportedly in a steady condition.
Regarding motive, Cpl. Bordelon stated at the press conference that investigators were confident the incident was “entirely a domestic incident,” with the full circumstances still under active investigation.
Following the shootings, Elkins carjacked a vehicle and fled the scene. Shreveport police pursued him into Bossier Parish, where officers were forced to shoot the suspect after being fired upon. In their official statement, the SPD said: “Officers were forced to discharge their department-issued firearms, neutralizing the suspect, who was pronounced deceased at the scene.” The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations later confirmed one subject was pronounced dead and that no officers were harmed after Elkins fled the crime scene.
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith addressed the public at the press conference: “I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback. I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”
The Louisiana State Police investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the LSP Hotline at 1-800-434-8007 or submit a tip at lsp.org to provide more information about the case.
Patterns Of Violence That Hit Close To Home
The Sunday massacre in Shreveport is a grim reminder that tragedies like this can happen anywhere, sometimes close to home. Texas has seen its own devastating episodes of domestic and family violence in recent years.
Just this month, the woman known as “Baby Jessica” was arrested in Midland on a family violence assault charge, The Dallas Express reported.
In January, a domestic dispute tied to a child custody battle in Slaton turned deadly, resulting in a double capital murder-suicide that left multiple people dead and others critically injured.
In February, a Dallas Police Department call analyst was arrested on a family violence assault charge.
In June 2023, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in Decatur, Texas, where 45-year-old Robert Morairity Jr. was charged with murdering his wife, Kimberly Kellam, and her 11-year-old daughter, Rachel. Police later located Kellam’s body inside the garage and the child’s remains under a tarp outside. Morairity was taken into custody at a motel in Irving, as previously reported by DX.
That same year, DX reported that Texas leads the nation in what is referred to as “family annihilation” incidents – defined as the killing of two or more family members in a single event. The publication of that data followed an August 2023 murder-suicide in Allen, Texas, where a father killed his wife and two sons, ages 12 and 2, inside their home.
In August 2022, two men opened fire on children playing in a garage in a Northwest Fort Worth neighborhood, killing 5-year-old Rayshard Javon Scott and 17-year-old Jamarrien Monroe, and wounding other family members, including an 18-month-old. Both suspects were ultimately convicted and sentenced in February of this year to life in prison.
The Shreveport shooting is yet another painful example that family annihilation incidents can hit anywhere, leaving entire communities in shock and grief.