Overview
- Following Sunday’s early-morning shootings across two nearby homes in Shreveport’s Cedar Grove, eight children were killed and two women were hospitalized with serious wounds.
- Police identified the gunman as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, the father of seven of the children, who died after officers fired on him following a carjacking pursuit into Bossier City.
- The Caddo Parish coroner said the victims were three boys and five girls, ages 3 to 11, and confirmed the children were close relatives.
- Investigators reported that seven children were found inside the house and one was found on a back roof after trying to flee, while another child survived by jumping from the roof.
- Detectives are treating the rampage as a domestic violence case as Louisiana State Police review the officer-involved shooting, in what national tracking lists as the deadliest U.S. mass shooting since January 2024.