Eight people died — all children — and two adult women were injured in a mass shooting early Sunday morning in Shreveport, La. Photo courtesy Shreveport, La., Police Department/Facebook
April 19 (UPI) — A gunman killed eight children in a domestic-related shooting in Louisiana on Sunday morning, authorities said, in the deadliest mass shooting in the United States so far this year.
Two women were also injured in the shooting, while a teenager was injured, according to police.
The shooting was the deadliest mass shooting of 2026 to date, according to The Gun Violence Archive. It was also the second largest at 10 by number of victims shot.
One of the two adult women injured is thought to have been in a relationship with the shooter, who was killed by police after stealing a car and leading them on a short chase, KSLA and NBC News reported.
Officials said they are still investigating the crime scenes to figure out what actually happened.
The Shreveport Police Department said both women suffered “serious injuries” while a teenager suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the incident.
The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office has identified the deceased as three boys and five girls ranging in age from 3 to 11 years old. Police initially said the victims were between the ages of 1 and 14.
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, were identified as the eight children killed, according to the Shreveport Times, citing the coroner’s office.
Police identified the shooter as Shamar Elkins. Authorities said he was the father of some of the children.
“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” Shreveport, La., Police Chief Wayne Smith told reporters in a press conference.
The shooting spans two residences in Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 people in northwestern Louisiana.
Police responded to reports of a domestic disturbance on the 300 block of West 79th Street in Shreveport around 6 a.m. EDT to find the widespread crime scene.
The initial shooting, police said, occurred at two houses before the suspect attempted a carjacking around the block and then, after a chase, attempted to escape on foot but was shot and killed by police.
A fourth location, a house where one of the shooting victims ran to, is also part of the investigation.
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” the city’s mayor, Tom Arceneaux, told reporters.
Preliminary information indicates the gunman initially shot a woman on Harris Street before traveling to the residence on West 79th Street, where the children were killed.
The gunman fled the scene by carjacking a man at gunpoint, according to authorities, who said officers spotted the stolen vehicle and chased it into Bossier Parish where they fatally shot the suspect.
“Officers were forced to discharge their department-issued firearms, neutralizing the suspect, who was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the Shreveport Police Department said in a statement.
A motive for the shooting remains undetermined, police said.
The shooting has left local politicians demanding answers and calling for prayers for the victims’ families.
Shreveport Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor broke into tears as she said she was at a loss for words.
“Maybe you can stand strong with this, but I can’t,” she said. “But I can’t without shedding tears of traumatic pain. I pain and I grieve for this family. I grieve for the lives that are lost and I’m asking you to please utilize every resource that the sheriff has brought forth now when you know these situations occur.
“We cannot be and make this a joke,” she continued. “This is not a freaking joke. This is real and this is the result when someone snaps.”
About 30% of crimes in Shreveport and 30% of its murders are domestic in nature, according to Councilman Grayson Boucher, who told reporters that Sunday’s shooting has more than doubled the city’s homicide rate.
“We as a community — Black, White, Republican, Democrat — need to stand together and fight for what is right. This is nothing but pure evil,” he said, adding that no amount of new police cars or a new police station will solve it.
“Pray for our country. Our country is riddled with evil right now and we need to pray and pray very, very hard.”
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he and his wife, Sharon, were “heartbroken over this horrific situation.”
“We are praying for everyone affected,” he said in a social media statement.
Gabrielle Giffords, a former House Democrat from Arizona and a survivor of a mass shooting in 2011 that killed six people, said all of the United States “should be outraged that we live in a country that routinely subjects our kids to such unimaginable violence.”
“Our children have no option but to trust us to keep them safe, but our country is failing them every day. Both Congress and Baton Rouge have a moral duty to do better,” she said in an online statement.
“Our leaders must act — now.”
The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations said in a statement that it is investigating the police-involved shooting.
There have been 114 mass shootings involving four or more victims so far this year in the United States, resulting in 558 people shot, and 123 people killed, according to The Gun Violence Archive, which said there were eight mass shootings over the weekend.
A demonstrator holds an “ENOUGH” flag on the National Mall during a March For Our Lives demonstration against gun violence in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
