Former Soldier Kills Eight Children and Wounds Two Women in Louisiana Mass Shooting

A gunman killed eight children, including seven of his own, and critically wounded two women in an early morning mass shooting across two homes in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Sunday, April 19, 2026, before police fatally shot him during a vehicle chase. The attacker, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, opened fire at a residence on Harrison Street and then at a second home on West 79th Street, where most of the killings took place. The victims ranged in age from one to fourteen years old, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Christopher Bordelon. An eighth child, described as a minor relative, was also killed at the second location. Two women were critically wounded, including Elkins' wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, who was shot at the Harrison Street address. 8 (children killed) — deadliest domestic mass shooting in the US since 2024 According to data cited by El Periódico from the Gun Violence Archive, the attack was the deadliest shooting in the United States since 2024.

Children shot in their sleep, one escaped from roof Many of the children appeared to have been shot in the head while they slept, Bordelon told reporters. Seven of the children were found dead inside the home on West 79th Street, while the eighth was found dead on a back roof, according to Bordelon. A ninth child, age 13, escaped the home with injuries after jumping from the roof, though that child's life was not in danger, police said. After carrying out the killings, Elkins carjacked a vehicle and fled the area. Officers pursued him and opened fire during the chase. „Officers were forced to discharge their department-issued firearms, neutralizing the suspect, who was pronounced deceased at the scene” — Shreveport Police Department via The Independent Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith and Mayor Tom Arceneaux both appeared visibly shaken at the scene as authorities sorted through multiple crime scenes.

Mayor calls it the worst tragedy the city has seen Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux described the event in stark terms as officials addressed the public. „This is a tragic situation -- maybe the worst tragic situation we've ever had. It's a terrible morning.” — Tom Arceneaux via AP NEWS Police Chief Wayne Smith echoed that sentiment, struggling to find words for what had occurred. „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.” — Wayne Smith via AP NEWS Arceneaux has served as mayor of Shreveport since December 31, 2022. The city, located in northwestern Louisiana, has a population of approximately 180,000 residents, according to AP News. Officials requested patience and prayers from the community as investigators processed multiple crime scenes.

Elkins called family in tears days before the attack Shamar Elkins was a former Louisiana National Guard soldier who joined in August 2013 and served until August 2020, a U.S. Army spokesperson confirmed to CNN, as reported by ABC Tu Diario en Español. He served as a communications support systems specialist and fire support specialist but never rose above the rank of private and was never deployed in a combat zone. His record included a 2019 arrest for illegal use of weapons and a separate charge involving possession of a weapon in a school zone, according to El Periódico. Relatives told The New York Times, as reported by The Independent, that Elkins had called his mother Mahelia Elkins and stepfather Marcus Jackson on Easter Sunday, saying through tears that his wife wanted a divorce and that he was drowning in "dark thoughts." „I told him, 'You can beat stuff, man. I don't care what you're going through, you can beat it.' Then I remember him telling me, 'Some people don't come back from their demons.'” — Marcus Jackson via The Independent Investigators were examining Elkins' mental health history and the circumstances of his marital separation as possible factors in the attack, according to El Periódico. The shooting reignited debate in Louisiana, a state with permissive firearms laws, over the combination of gun access and mental health crises.

Mass shootings involving family members, often categorized as domestic violence incidents, represent a recurring pattern in U.S. gun violence statistics. The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks such incidents, defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot. Louisiana has among the least restrictive firearms regulations in the United States. Shreveport, the third-largest city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, serves as the parish seat of Caddo Parish and sits along the Red River in the northwestern corner of the state.

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