UPDATE — 4/19/26 at 7:10 p.m. ET: Authorities have identified the gunman as Shamar Elkins, the father of seven of the eight children who were shot and killed on Sunday, April 19, in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The two adults who were injured by gunfire were women, including the mother of the seven slain kids. Both women are listed in critical condition.
Police further clarified the victims ranged in age from 1 to 12 years old. Additionally, a ninth child was wounded jumping from a roof to escape Elkins. That child is expected to make a full recovery.
Original story:
A mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, early on Sunday, April 19, has left eight children between the ages of 1 and 14 dead, according to officials.
Police said the suspected gunman is dead, and noted that, all told, 10 people were struck by gunfire in shootings that unfolded inside multiple homes.
Investigators are claiming it appears the shooter is somehow related to some — if not all — of the victims.
Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon described Sunday’s deadly incident as “domestic in nature” while speaking with reporters and said that the multiple crime scenes will take a while to process.
Police have yet to release names of any of the victims, though Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said some of the injured have been hospitalized for treatment.
Arceneaux did not provide any information on the conditions of the injured victims.
Two children and two adults were found shot to death at a California home after police received a 911 call from someone saying they had opened fire inside and set up “booby traps” throughout the residence, according to authorities. Detectives are investigating the Tuesday, January 27, incident at a Rancho Cordova home in Sacramento County […]
Two of the homes that were targeted on Sunday are on the same street, while a third is in the same neighborhood, police said.
The shootings were first reported by someone who was inside the first home that was targeted by the gunman.
Police said that the suspect fled on foot before carjacking a nearby vehicle. Patrol officers chased after him for a while, but the shooter was eventually killed when officers fired on the vehicle.
The suspect has not yet been identified, but police said he would be named as soon as possible.
Louisiana State Police will be investigating the circumstances surrounding the suspect’s death, because it involved a police officer.
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said that he couldn’t “even begin to imagine how such an event could occur” when discussing the mass shooting and said that investigators will be analyzing all of the evidence collected from the different shooting scenes to try to understand what took place.
“My heart is just taken aback,” Smith admitted to reporters.
According to Arceneaux, a shooting like this “affects the entire community,” not just those involved.
Two boys with 15 years between them were gunned down in South Carolina late Tuesday, February 17, and now, a 34-year-old man is behind bars facing murder and weapons charges. Police in Rock Hill allege in a statement an argument broke out between Cedric Akeen Creighton and a teen named Jamareon Kimble. According to police, […]
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” he said, adding, “We all mourn for these families.”
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry issued a statement on Sunday saying he is aware of what happened, and he and his wife, Sharon LeBlanc, were devastated by the news. “We’re deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene,” he added.
According to the Associated Press, the mass shooting was the deadliest in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024.
