Barney Davis
Published April 19, 2026 5:22pm
Updated April 19, 2026 11:11pm
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Shamar Elkins is pictured with children (Picture: Facebook)
A father has been identified as the gunman who shot dead eight children in the worst mass shooting in the US for two years.
Shamar Elkins, 31, is believed to be the father of some of the victims, was shot dead by police after stealing a car to flee the scene in Shreveport at 6am on Sunday.
One of his victims was found shot dead on the roof of their family home trying to escape, police said.
A friend of Elkins, thought to have been discharged from the US Army, told Metro: ‘They were a lovely family. Everyone knew them around Shreveport.
‘I think the military just messed him up. He was left feeling like he had no support.’
The attacks erupted when the suspect shot a woman at one home and then drove to another home where the children were killed in what was described as ‘a violent domestic incident.’
Police say the father fled the scene and carjacked an adult male at gunpoint.
Officers spotted the vehicle and began a pursuit that continued into Bossier Parish, where the officers ‘ultimately engaged the suspect,’ the statement said.
The officers, it said, ‘were forced to discharge their department-issued firearms, neutralising the suspect, who was pronounced deceased at the scene.’
Police tape blocks off a house in Shreveport that is one of the locations tied to a mass shooting Sunday (Picture: AP)
Just two weeks before the killing Elkins posted a picture with eight children, writing: ‘Happy Easter had a wonderful time at church for the first time with all my kids what a blessed day.’
Liza Demming, who lives two houses down from where one of the attacks happened, said her security camera captured video of the suspect running away after two shots were fired.
‘That’s’ pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house and the cars leaving,’ she said.
Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof.
‘He looks like the dad that comes over here,’ she said, adding that he was just with the children a few days ago.
Police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon described the crime scene as ‘extensive,’ spanning three homes with one of the kids running to a neighbour to seek help.
He said: ‘The individual responsible once leaving this scene performed a carjacking right here in close proximity to the corner of West 79th and Lynnwood, at which point in time, Shreveport police patrol officers got behind that vehicle in a chase incident,’ Bordelon said.
Eight kids including a 1-year-old shot dead in a Lousiana home (Picture: Shreveport Police)
‘We do believe him to be the only individual that fired gunshots at these locations here,’ Bordelon said.
Police chief Wayne Smith said a total of 10 people shot with the youngest being aged just one.
Mr Smith said the suspected killer was shot dead by police during a vehicle chase.
‘This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,’ he added.
‘I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback. I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.’
‘This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,’ said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents.
‘It’s a terrible morning.’
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Louisiana State Police said their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate.
In a statement, state police said no officers were harmed in the shooting that followed a police pursuit into Bossier City.
State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with detectives.
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the US since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024.
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