Shreveport police have identified 31-year-old Army veteran Shamar Elkins as the gunman responsible for a shooting that left eight children dead and three others injured Sunday, in what officials described as one of the worst tragedies in the city’s history.
Shreveport Police Department Corporal Christopher Bordelon said seven of the eight children killed are believed to be Elkins’ own. The victims ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old. Authorities said the violence began early Sunday during what investigators described as a domestic incident.
Police said Elkins first shot an adult woman on Harrison Street before traveling to a residence in the 300 block of West 79th Street, where the children were found dead inside the home. The mother of the children was among those injured and is expected to survive. Another female victim remains in critical condition, while a teenage victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Bordelon described the killings as a “heinous act” while speaking with reporters near the scene Sunday evening.
After the shootings, Elkins fled the scene, allegedly carjacked a man at gunpoint near Linwood Avenue and West 79th Street, and led officers on a pursuit into neighboring Bossier Parish. Law enforcement ultimately confronted him, and officers opened fire, killing him at the scene. Authorities confirmed no officers were injured in the incident.
Louisiana State Police are leading the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, while Shreveport police continue to investigate the killings. Officials are asking anyone with information, photos, or video related to the incident to come forward.
CNN’s Jessica Dean reported the shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in the United States in more than two years. Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told Dean that investigators will examine how Elkins obtained his weapon and seek eyewitness accounts to better understand the events.
Authorities said the shootings followed a domestic dispute, though a clear motive remains under investigation.
In the days leading up to the attack, Elkins had posted messages on social media referencing mental health struggles. In one post dated April 9, he wrote, “Dear God, Today I ask You to help me guard my mind and my emotions.” In another, he added, “When depression tries to settle in, when anger rises, when anxiety or panic comes, give me the awareness to recognize what is not from You and the strength to reject it immediately in the name of JESUS.”
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux called the shooting “maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Prayer?
YES! A good thing. But it works ONLY when done in the ‘will of God’.
To pray for one thing, and then to do the opposite, is what is called ‘free will’.
God did not create automatons.
In any case like this it was definitely against the will of God!
It is a prayer that God will not answer ( as it should be ).
This guy did what only he wanted to do!
It’s not what God wanted for him.
IT’S NOT WHAT GOD WANTED!
We are responsible for what we, ourselves, do!
God gives us that choice.