Residents gathered for vigils and prayers as investigators pieced together a shooting that crossed two homes in one neighborhood.
SHREVEPORT, La. — Grief settled over a Shreveport neighborhood Sunday after police said a father killed eight children in a domestic shooting across two nearby homes, leaving residents, relatives and city leaders struggling to absorb the scale of the loss.
Authorities identified the suspect as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, who died after a police chase ended with officers firing on him. Two women were critically wounded, including his wife, police said. Investigators said the children were all found at one of the homes and ranged from 3 to 11 years old. The killings quickly became not only a local tragedy but one of the deadliest U.S. mass shootings in recent years, putting a national spotlight on a block where residents woke to sirens, taped-off streets and stunned neighbors.
The timeline that emerged from police and witness accounts traced the attack through the early hours of Sunday. Authorities said the shooting started before sunrise at one home, where a woman was shot, then moved to a second nearby house where eight children were killed. Police spokesperson Chris Bordelon said seven children were found inside, while another was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to get away. Another child survived after jumping from the roof and was taken to a hospital. State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children also appeared to have tried escaping through the back door, a detail that deepened the horror for first responders and relatives arriving at the scene.
Neighbors described a morning that shifted from confusion to dread in minutes. Liza Demming, who lives two houses away, said her security camera caught the suspect running from the house and the sound of shots. She said that when she later stepped outside, she saw a child’s body on the roof. Nearby, Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr. said one of the homes belonged to him and had been rented to the family through a worker connected to his church. He said he had not known the family personally. The district attorney’s office said the bloodshed began as a domestic dispute, but police did not release a fuller motive Sunday or explain what turned the dispute into a mass killing of children.
Family members began offering pieces of context as officials worked to identify victims and notify relatives. Crystal Brown, whose cousin was among the wounded women, said Elkins and his wife were separating and were due in court Monday. Brown said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting. She also said Elkins had children with two women and that all of the children were gathered at one house when the attack happened. Police said they were aware of a 2019 firearms case involving Elkins but said they did not know of other domestic violence issues. That left major questions unanswered Sunday, including whether warning signs had surfaced outside law enforcement and whether upcoming court proceedings played any direct role.
By afternoon, the focus widened beyond the crime scene to the city’s response. Police and elected officials held a news conference outside one of the homes, visibly shaken as they asked the public for patience while multiple scenes were processed. Mayor Tom Arceneaux said the city had likely never faced a worse tragedy. Officers remained posted near the homes while investigators moved through evidence and coroner staff worked to account for the dead. Because the suspect was dead, there was no immediate prospect of criminal charges against him, but the case still required a full reconstruction through interviews, forensic work, medical updates on the wounded women and eventual release of the victims’ names.
As evening came, the block became a place of public mourning. Flowers appeared outside the single-story home on 79th Street. Residents comforted one another on sidewalks and in parking lots. At a prayer vigil, candles glowed as people stood shoulder to shoulder, some holding children close, others bowing their heads in silence. The scene reflected a city trying to make sense of violence that struck inside a family and spread across a neighborhood. The children were described by Brown as cheerful and kind, a simple portrait that contrasted sharply with the brutality investigators spent the day documenting.
Late Sunday, Shreveport remained in a state of mourning as police continued to examine both homes, relatives awaited official identifications, and the next public milestones were expected to come through coroner findings, police updates and any records tied to the family’s pending court case.
Author note: Last updated April 20, 2026.