Shreveport, Louisiana: Father Kills Eight Children in Nation's Deadliest Mass Shooting Since 2024
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Shamar Elkins, 31, shot and killed eight children across multiple Shreveport, Louisiana residences early Sunday morning, April 19, making it the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since January 2024. Seven of the victims were his own children; the eighth was a cousin. Elkins was fatally shot during a subsequent police chase into neighboring Bossier City. The attack does not appear to have an ideological or terrorist motive; the FBI has not been called in and law enforcement is treating it as a domestic violence incident.
ANALYSIS
Elkins shot his wife first at one residence, inflicting serious injuries. He then drove to a second location where he shot the eight children and a second woman. A 13-year-old boy at the second residence jumped from the building roof to escape; he survived with broken bones. All eight children died. They were identified by the Caddo Parish coroner 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). The presence of multiple surnames reflects children from multiple family relationships.
Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard as a signal support system specialist and fire support specialist. He was never deployed and separated from the Army in 2020 at the rank of private. He carried at least two prior criminal convictions in Caddo District Court: a 2016 driving while intoxicated charge, and a March 2019 arrest for illegal use of weapons, carrying a firearm on school property. A prior conviction for firearms-related conduct did not prevent access to a weapon in this incident, which will likely renew scrutiny of Louisiana's enforcement of federal prohibitions on firearms possession by convicted individuals.
The circumstances of Elkins's death remain under investigation. Police pursued him from Shreveport into Bossier City following a carjacking; it is unclear whether he died by his own hand or from a police round. No firearms were recovered at the children's location indicating he had time to flee, which may inform future discussions about law enforcement response timelines. With eight children dead, this is the single largest mass casualty domestic violence event in the United States in recent memory, and the incident will amplify legislative debate over domestic violence and firearms access at both state and federal levels.
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