Father Kills 8 Children in Shreveport Domestic Shooting

Shreveport, Louisiana — A 31-year-old man killed seven of his own children and one other child early Sunday in what police described as a domestic disturbance spanning two homes, the deadliest mass shooting in the United States in more than two years. The suspect, Shamar Elkins, was later killed by police after a chase.

Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said Elkins first shot a woman at one residence before driving to a second home where he opened fire on the children. Seven were found dead inside. An eighth child was discovered on the roof, apparently after attempting to flee. A 13-year-old boy jumped from the roof during the chaos and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Two adult women, including the children’s mother, Shaneiqua Pugh, were critically wounded and remained hospitalized Sunday evening. Bordelon said detectives believe the violence was “entirely a domestic incident” and that Elkins acted alone. No motive has been publicly established, though family members later described a man overwhelmed by mental distress.

Mahelia Elkins, the suspect’s mother, and her husband, Marcus Jackson, told The New York Times that Elkins called them on Easter Sunday in tears. He said his wife wanted a divorce and that he was drowning in “dark thoughts.” In the background, his children could be heard playing. Jackson recalled urging his stepson to persevere. “Some people don’t come back from their demons,” Elkins replied, according to the family.

The couple described a fractured family history. Mahelia Elkins gave birth to her son as a teenager while struggling with crack cocaine addiction. He was largely raised by a family friend and only reconnected with his mother about a decade ago. Those details emerged as officials tried to understand how a father could turn a domestic conflict into an unthinkable act of violence against his own children.

The victims were identified by the coroner’s office as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5. Seven were Elkins’s biological children. The eighth was a cousin.

Police Chief Wayne Smith told reporters he was “taken aback” by the scene, calling it unlike anything most officers had encountered. “I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur,” he said. Mayor Tom Arceneaux described it as “maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had.” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose district includes parts of Shreveport, expressed condolences and said they had been briefed by local leaders.

The shooting stands out even in a country numbed by gun violence. It is the deadliest mass shooting since a gunman killed eight people in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today, and Northeastern University. The Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot excluding the perpetrator, has already recorded more than 100 such incidents in 2026.

One neighbor, Mack London, 71, told NBC News the street had never seen anything like it. Yet the broader pattern is familiar. Domestic conflicts involving firearms frequently escalate into mass casualty events. Elkins legally possessed the weapon used, police said, despite his reported expressions of suicidal ideation and the ongoing dissolution of his marriage.

Public conversation after such tragedies often splits between calls for stronger mental health services and renewed debate over firearm access for people in crisis. Louisiana has relatively permissive gun laws, including few restrictions on domestic abusers obtaining or keeping firearms unless they have been convicted. Research has long shown that the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation dramatically increases the likelihood of homicide.

Sunday’s events also exposed the limits of intervention. Elkins’s family said they tried to talk him through his despair just days earlier. His mother and stepfather live in Oklahoma City, hours away. Whether closer connections to mental health resources or temporary removal of firearms could have altered the outcome remains a painful question local and national leaders will confront in the days ahead.

At a prayer circle near the crime scene, community members gathered as investigators continued processing multiple locations. The children’s names and ages circulated through local media, each one a reminder of lives cut short in a single morning. Police said they do not believe any other suspects were involved.

For a city still absorbing the loss, the facts feel almost incomprehensible: eight children dead, two mothers fighting for their lives, and a father who told his family he saw no path forward from his demons. The investigation continues, but the outline of the story is already clear. A domestic situation spiraled, a gun was present, and an entire community is left searching for answers that may never fully satisfy.

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