Community Reels From Shreveport Shooting That Killed Eight Children

A man killed eight children—seven of his own and a nephew—and shot two women before dying after a police pursuit Sunday in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in two years. The violence erupted before dawn at two homes in the city of 180,000 residents in northwestern Louisiana, authorities said. The shooter, identified as Shamar Elkins, died after fleeing during a police pursuit, though it was unclear whether he was killed by officers or from a self-inflicted gunshot, Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.

Elkins had a 2019 felony firearms conviction for illegal use of weapons. Under Louisiana law, such convictions bar gun ownership for at least 10 years after completing sentence and probation. Authorities are investigating how he obtained the assault-style weapon used in the shooting.

Domestic Violence and Gun Access at the Center of the Tragedy

Schools in Shreveport brought in counselors Monday as the community confronted troubling questions about preventing domestic violence. Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry Whitehorn called for urgent action. “We cannot afford to wait until the next crisis,” he said. “We owe it to the eight children who were lost.”

The assault-style weapon Elkins obtained raises urgent questions about gun access. Despite his 2019 felony conviction for illegal use of weapons, he was able to acquire the gun. Court records showed that in that 2019 case, Elkins fired five rounds at a vehicle and told police that someone inside had pulled a gun on him first.

Personal Stories of Loss and Survival

Troy Brown, who lived in the house with his wife, Keosha Pugh, was at work when the shooting began. His wife called for help desperately as the violence erupted and escaped with their 12-year-old daughter through the home’s roof.

“She said she was running for her life,” said Lionel Pugh, uncle of the two women shot. “The only ones he didn’t kill was the ones who got away.”

Keosha Pugh broke her pelvis falling from the roof and has since had surgery, according to Troy Brown. Her sister-in-law, Shaneiqua Elkins, was also shot in the attack.

In the weeks before the shooting, Elkins had spent just over a week at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in January for mental health treatment. Troy Brown said Elkins had appeared “better when he came home” from that stay. Yet Brown conveyed a darker sense of what happened. “All I know is he just snapped,” he told the Associated Press. “If I wouldn’t have been at work, he was going to kill everybody in the house and that includes me.”

Brown spoke of his own loss—a 10-year-old son. “I’m never going to get to throw the football with him again,” he said. “I’m never going to get to hear him say, ‘Dad, can I get this bag of chips?’”

Family members described Shaneiqua Elkins as a devoted mother who celebrated her children’s educational achievements. “She raised those kids right,” Lionel Pugh said. “They were the center of her universe.”

One of the victims, 5-year-old Braylon Snow, was preparing for his Head Start program preschool graduation next month. “They have the cap and gowns just like you would have when you were graduating from high school,” said Laurance Guidry, president and CEO of Caddo Community Action Agency, which ran the Head Start program where Braylon was a student.

Relatives said they would often see the children playing in the yard on Sunday mornings. “Happy children, joyful children. Shaneiqua is a great mother. She provided a great home for the kids,” said Francine Monro Brown, a cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, as she stood near a growing memorial of stuffed teddy bears, flowers, and pink and blue balloons.

Shooter’s History and Official Response

Elkins served in the Louisiana National Guard from 2013 to 2020 as a private with no deployments, according to guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Noel Collins. His 2019 conviction for illegal use of weapons stemmed from an incident in which he fired five rounds at a vehicle after claiming someone inside had pulled a gun on him first.

Investigators found no prior documented domestic violence incidents involving Elkins, according to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon. However, Elkins and his wife, Shaneiqua, were separating and scheduled to appear in court Monday, according to Crystal Brown, a cousin of one of the women shot.

Gov. Jeff Landry announced that a foundation created by the state’s first lady will pay the children’s funeral expenses. Landry, recalling last year’s truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that killed 14, said the weekend’s tragedy marked a different kind of loss.

The shooting was the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

Louisiana has expanded gun access in recent years. For years, Democrats in Louisiana have proposed bills to tighten gun controls or implement “red flag” measures—proposals that Republicans have routinely blocked in the legislature.

Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 residents in northwestern Louisiana, faced what its mayor called one of its worst days. Authorities continued investigating how Elkins obtained the weapon.