A domestic massacre in Louisiana has left a city in mourning and a nation searching for answers after a 31-year-old former soldier opened fire on three homes early Sunday morning.
In the gray silence before dawn in Shreveport, Louisiana, a man drove into three separate homes, walked through their doors and shot eight children dead. Seven of those children were his own. The youngest has not yet reached his second birthday. The oldest was twelve.
Before the sun had fully risen, the gunman — identified by police as Shamar Elkins, a 31-year U.S. Army veteran — was dead himself, shot by officers after a car chase into a neighboring parish.
Who Was Shamar Elkins? Inside the life of the Louisiana shooter
Shamar Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years and left in August 2020 without ever deploying, according to the U.S. Army.
In March 2019, three years after his service ended, Shamar Elkins was arrested on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and carrying a firearm on school property when he fired five shots at a moving vehicle from just 300 feet away from Shreveport High School – directly in the direction of the school. He pleaded guilty to weapons charges in October and was placed on 18 months of probation. The firearm charge was dismissed.
On Facebook, Shamar Elkins recently shared a photo of himself posing with seven children
Nothing in the public record that followed would have easily predicted Sunday’s atrocity. On Facebook, Shamar Elkins recently shared a photo of himself posing with seven children. “Had my first Happy Easter at church with all my kids, what a blessed day,” he captioned it.
Hours before the murders, Shamar Elkins posted a photo of himself with his oldest daughter at a restaurant.
A fortnight later, on Saturday night, hours before the murders, Shamar Elkins posted a photo of his eldest daughter at a restaurant. “Lol!!!! I took my oldest on a 1-on-1 date, must have caught her wrong ugh ugh,” read the caption, followed by a string of laughing emojis.
Yet something else had emerged in the previous days. On April 9, Elkins posted what was understood to be a prayer — or plea.
“Dear God, today I am asking You to help me protect my mind and my emotions,” the post read. “When negativity arises, remind me to say, ‘This is not mine, in the name of Jesus.’ When depression tries to settle, when anger rises, when anxiety or panic sets in, give me the awareness to know what is not of You and the strength to reject it immediately in JESUS’ name.”
Eight dead children: What happened in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday morning
Shreveport Police Corporal Chris Bordelon confirmed that officers responded to reports of a shooting in the Cedar Grove neighborhood shortly after 6 a.m. ET. The victims were discovered in two homes on West 79th Street and a third on Harrison Street.
Shreveport Police Corporal Chris Bordelon confirmed that officers responded to reports of a shooting in the Cedar Grove neighborhood shortly after 6 a.m. ET. The victims were discovered in two homes on West 79th Street and a third on Harrison Street.
The children who died ranged in age from one to twelve, although police initially reported ages from one to fourteen.
A 13-year-old boy survived after he jumped from a roof to escape and suffered several broken bones. Two adult women were also shot – one of them the mother of Elkins’ children, who suffered very serious injuries; the other, the mother of the eighth child killed, remained in danger.
“This is a very large scene with multiple deceased children,” Bordelon said.
After the shooting, Elkins stole a car and led police on a chase into neighboring Bossier Parish, where he was fatally shot by officers. Louisiana State Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting. No officers were injured.
“We’re still working to determine the full motive and understand why this happened, but it is domestic in nature,” Bordelon told CNN affiliate KSLA.
Louisiana Shreveport Responds: ‘How Do We Get Over This?’
The weight of what happened settled heavily on the city of roughly 180,000 people in the hours that followed. Officials gathered for a news conference where audible gasps were reported as a police deputy read aloud the ages of the victims.
City Councilwoman Tabatha H. Taylor broke down in tears. “I’m going to ask the community, along with prayer, every mental health counselor, counselor that’s here: This family and this community needs you,” she said. “I need you. Because how are we going to get through this?”
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux called it a “tragic situation” and potentially the worst in the city’s history. “These are the kinds of moments that leave a lasting impression — in our hearts, in our minds and in our sense of security,” he said, adding that the tragedy “goes far beyond the scene itself.”
Police Chief Wayne Smith struggled to find the language appropriate to the moment. “My heart is shocked. I cannot imagine how such an event can happen,” he said. “I just don’t know what to say.
State’s Attorney Tammy Phelps, speaking at a press conference Sunday afternoon, noted that the children tried to escape through the back of the house during the attack.
Caddo Parish Public Schools Superintendent Keith Burton urged a collective decision: “We must take care of our children, support our families and stand with our educators and first responders who are bearing the brunt of this moment.”
The political response to the mass shooting in Louisiana
US House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was born in Shreveport and represents the area in Congress, described the killings as “heartbreaking”.
“We keep the victims, their families and loved ones and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. And we are grateful to the Shreveport, Bossier and Louisiana police for their quick response,” Johnson wrote on social media.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry expressed his condolences via Facebook: “Our prayers go out to all those affected. We are deeply grateful to the police and first responders who are working tirelessly on the scene.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as any incident in which four or more people are shot, not including the perpetrator, there have been at least 114 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2025. Sunday’s attack in Shreveport is the deadliest since January 2024.
City Councilman Grayson Boucher noted that more than 30 percent of homicides in Shreveport are domestic in nature — a statistic that takes on a special and dire weight after Sunday’s events.
The police have not yet released the names of the eight children killed.
