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4w ago

Shreveport Mourns the ‘Eternal Eight’ as Investigations Continue

Authorities now focus on how the shooter obtained an assault-style rifle despite a prior felony.

Sharon Pouncy, who has also endured the loss of a child, stands on the side of the road selling Mother’s Day gift baskets.
Micheal Thomas, 10, helped hand out gold crowns to children leaving the funeral home after witnessing the open caskets to cheer them up.
Outside the home where the children were killed, loved ones and community members built a makeshift memorial, filling the space with flowers, toys and handwritten messages in a collective act of mourning and remembrance.
The caskets of the eight children who were killed arrive for burial at Forest Park Cemetery West in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Overview

  • The funeral service, held Saturday at Summer Grove Baptist Church, drew grieving families, faith leaders and officials who filed past eight white caskets in a packed sanctuary.
  • Mourners honored seven siblings and their cousin, ages 3 to 11, with prayers, music and a crowning ceremony, in what community leaders called a nationwide moment of grief.
  • Police say the April 19 attack was domestic in nature and carried out by the children's father during a separation, with two women wounded and a 12-year-old injured while escaping.
  • Shamar Elkins died after a police pursuit, and a review of the officer-involved shooting is underway as investigators continue to examine the chain of custody of the rifle.
  • Federal prosecutors have charged at least one person over firearm offenses tied to the case, with additional indictments reported, and Louisiana’s governor ordered flags at half-staff through May 17.