Summary
Shreveport investigators described the slayings of eight children as likely the result of an ongoing domestic dispute and said questions remain about how the shooter obtained the weapon and whether he was killed by responding officers or by his own hand as he tried to escape. Two women were also shot and remain hospitalized.
What authorities say
Police in Shreveport, Louisiana, said on Monday they were continuing to piece together events after a man killed eight children the previous day, in what appeared to be tied to a domestic conflict. At a news conference, Shreveport police chief Wayne Smith said, "All evidence and indications are that this erupted as a domestic dispute," adding, "The chances are good that this was not the first time."
Officials identified the shooter as Shamar Elkins. Police said Elkins also shot two women - one identified as his wife and the other as a woman who, in a 911 call, said she was Elkins' girlfriend. That woman told dispatchers that Elkins had fired at her home a few blocks from the scene where the children were later killed and that he had taken her three children; those three children were subsequently located by police.
Sequence of events
Police said the series of attacks began early on Sunday. The first call to emergency services came just before 6 a.m. from a woman who was on the roof of the home where the children were shot. Officers arrived within minutes but found that Elkins had already carjacked a vehicle and fled the scene.
Traffic patrol officers soon spotted the stolen car, and as pursuing officers closed in, gunfire was exchanged with Elkins in Bossier City, about six miles northeast of the site of the child fatalities. It is not yet clear whether Elkins died from gunfire by officers or by his own hand during that confrontation, authorities said.
Victims
The Caddo Parish Coroner's Office identified the children killed 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.
Legal and investigative questions
Police noted Elkins had a 2019 conviction for illegal use of a firearm, a felony that would legally have barred him from possessing a gun. Investigators are attempting to determine how he obtained the "assault-style" pistol used in the killings.
The New York Times reported an incident in which a driver allegedly flashed a handgun at Elkins and he fired five times, striking the driver's car; Reuters had not independently verified that account, police said. Shreveport authorities are focused on confirming the chain of events and the weapon's origin as part of their ongoing probe.
Wider context from national data
Separate compiled data show that, excluding this incident in Shreveport, the Gun Violence Archive recorded at least 119 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, resulting in 117 deaths, including 79 children, and 458 people injured. The archive defines a mass shooting as an event in which at least four people, not including the shooter, are injured or killed by gunfire. The United States had 407 such incidents last year, according to the archive data.
Ongoing status
Both women who were shot in the earlier incident remain hospitalized, authorities said. Investigators continue to collect evidence at multiple locations connected to the attacks and to interview witnesses as they work to establish a complete timeline of events.
Reporting note
Police have emphasized key unresolved points - how Elkins acquired the firearm used in the shootings and whether his death occurred at the hands of officers or by his own action. Those questions remain central to the active investigation.