Louisiana shooting: Suspect identified as children’s father, was mentally unstable

A Louisiana father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, during an early morning domestic violence attack on his family Sunday that stretched across two houses in a Shreveport neighbourhood, police said. Authorities described the incident as one of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States in more than two years.

The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, killed all eight children, five girls and three boys, inside a home in Shreveport after an argument with his wife around 6 am, according to officials. The victims, aged between 3 and 11.

Officials said Elkins fathered seven of the children and was an uncle to the eighth, though it remains unclear which child was his niece or nephew.

SHOT CHILDREN WHILE THEY SLEPT

According to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Christopher Bordelon, most of the victims were shot in the head while they slept. Seven children were found dead inside the house, while one child was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape. Another child jumped from the roof and survived and was taken to a hospital.

Police said the violence began before sunrise in a neighbourhood south of downtown Shreveport, when Elkins shot a woman at one home and then drove to another location where he carried out the killings. Two women, including his wife, the mother of his children, were shot and critically injured.

ACCUSED WAS SEPARATING FROM HIS WIFE

Bordelon said investigators believe the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.” Authorities have not confirmed what triggered the attack, but a family member said Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court on Monday. Crystal Brown, a cousin of one of the wounded women, said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

“He murdered his children. He shot his wife,” Brown said. She added that Elkins shared four children with his wife and three with another woman who lived nearby and was also shot. All the children were together in one house at the time of the attack.

Bordelon said police were familiar with Elkins, who had previously been arrested in a 2019 firearms case, but officials were not aware of any prior domestic violence issues.

Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith expressed shock over the incident. “I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” he said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”

State Representative Tammy Phelps said some of the children tried to escape through the back door as the attack unfolded. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.

Elkins, described as a deranged Army veteran, was later killed by police following a pursuit that ended with officers opening fire.

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