Father Kills 8 Children in Shreveport, Louisiana Mass Shooting

A Louisiana father shot and killed eight children early Sunday morning in Shreveport, in what police are calling the deadliest mass shooting in the United States in more than two years. Shamar Elkins, 31, killed seven of his own children and one other child before fleeing in a stolen vehicle and being fatally shot by police.

The attack began just after 6 a.m. in the Cedar Grove neighborhood, a community in northwest Shreveport, a city of roughly 180,000 residents. Police say Elkins first shot his wife, 34-year-old Shaneiqua Pugh, at a home on Harrison Street, then drove to a second residence on West 79th Street and opened fire on the children and a second woman.

The Children Who Were Killed

The Caddo Parish Coroner's office identified the eight children killed as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Braylon Snow, 5; Khedarrion Snow, 6; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; and Sariahh Snow, 11. Seven of the victims were Elkins' own children. The eighth, also killed at the West 79th Street home, was the child of the second woman shot at that location.

Both women were critically wounded and hospitalized. A 13-year-old boy escaped by jumping from the roof, sustaining broken bones but expected to recover. "We're just very thankful he was able to get away," Shreveport Police Cpl. Chris Bordelon told reporters.

State Rep. Tammy Phelps, speaking at a press conference with city officials, said some children attempted to flee out the back door of the residence as the shooting unfolded.

Who Was Shamar Elkins?

Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a signal support system specialist and fire support specialist. He was never deployed overseas and left the military in 2020 as a private.

Court records show at least two prior criminal convictions in Caddo District Court. In 2019, he was arrested for illegally using a firearm near a school; documents show he drew a 9mm handgun and fired at another vehicle while children were playing outside nearby. He was also convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2016. Those prior convictions would likely have prohibited him from legally possessing the rifle police say he used in the attack.

Family members told the New York Times that Elkins had called his mother and stepfather in the hours before the shooting, saying his wife wanted a divorce and that he was drowning in "dark thoughts." A relative of one of the wounded women confirmed to the Associated Press that Elkins and his wife had been in the process of separating and had been arguing in the days before the attack.

After the shootings at both residences, Elkins armed himself with a rifle and carjacked a vehicle to flee the area. Shreveport police pursued him across parish lines into neighboring Bossier Parish, where officers confronted and fatally shot him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

How the City Is Responding

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux described the scene as "horrific" and said the shooting "rattles the entire city." In an official statement, he wrote that the community must confront "violence in the home, untreated trauma, and the silence that allows both to grow."

City Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor broke down in tears at a press conference, appealing to mental health professionals to step forward and support survivors, first responders, and community members. "This family and this community needs you," she said. "I need you — because how do we get through this?

The eight children's deaths more than doubled Shreveport's total homicide count for all of 2026 to date, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the killings "senseless" and confirmed multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose congressional district includes Shreveport, called the killings "heartbreaking" and expressed condolences to the victims' families.

On Sunday evening, a candlelight vigil drew community members to lay flowers and stuffed animals at the site of the shooting. "It makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them because you just don't know," attendee Kimberlin Jackson told the Associated Press.

The Deadliest US Mass Shooting in Over Two Years

The attack is the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since January 2024, when a 23-year-old killed eight people, most of them relatives, in a Chicago suburb. According to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 114 mass shootings have occurred in the US so far this year, including a Rhode Island arena shooting that killed three, a Texas school shooting that left one student dead, children shot at a California birthday party, and an Austin bar shooting that wounded 14.

Investigators say they are still working to establish a full motive, though the attack has been classified as domestic in nature. The Shreveport Police Department continues to investigate.

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