A Louisiana father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, in what authorities described as the deadliest mass shooting in the United States in more than two years. The attack unfolded in two homes in a Shreveport neighborhood Sunday morning, with police responding to the first report around 5:55 a.m., Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him. Police also said Elkins shot and wounded his wife and another woman.
The mass shooting marked the deadliest in the U.S. since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb. Family members said Elkins and his wife were separating, and community leaders have called for a reckoning over domestic violence.
Timeline of the attack
Police received the first report around 5:55 a.m. from a caller stating someone had been shot at a home on 79th Street. Within five minutes, police were told Elkins had shot everyone inside the house, Smith said. Troy Brown, Elkins’ brother-in-law, said his wife and his 12-year-old daughter escaped through the home’s roof.
Officers arrived within minutes, but another call at 6:07 a.m. reported a second attack at a nearby Harrison Street residence, where the caller said Elkins had shot her before fleeing, according to Smith. Police then received word the gunman had stolen a vehicle, leading to a pursuit and eventually an exchange of gunfire. Elkins was pronounced dead about an hour after police received the first call. It was not clear whether he was killed by officers or from a self-inflicted gunshot, Smith said.
Gunman’s criminal history
Court records showed that Elkins was placed on probation in 2019 after pleading guilty to illegal use of weapons. A police report for that case said Elkins fired five rounds at a vehicle and told police that someone inside had pulled a gun on him.
Under Louisiana law, a person convicted of illegal use of a weapon is banned from having a gun for at least 10 years after completing their sentence and probation. Police spokesperson Chris Bordelon said investigators were not aware of other domestic violence issues involving Elkins. Authorities have not said how or where Elkins obtained the weapon used in Sunday’s attack.
Elkins had served in the Louisiana National Guard from 2013 to 2020, holding the rank of private and having no deployments, according to a guard spokesperson. He had voluntarily checked into a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in January for just over a week, according to Brown. Brown said Elkins appeared “better when he came home” and seemed fine a day before the shooting.
The victims
The eight children ranged in age from 3 to 11. Seven were Elkins’ own children; one was his nephew, according to the Caddo Parish coroner’s office.
Family members described Shaneiqua Elkins, the gunman’s wife, as a doting mother who celebrated her children’s success in school and carefully dressed them before family events. Francine Monro Brown, a cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she would often see the children playing in the yard on Sunday mornings when she drove past the house on her way to church. She called them “happy” and “joyful.”
Family separation
Elkins and his wife were separating and had been arguing about their relationship before the shooting, said Crystal Brown, a cousin of a woman shot in the attack. Police have not provided a motive for the killings.