8 Children Killed, 2 Women Wounded in Shocking Shooting

A quiet Louisiana neighborhood woke up to a nightmare Sunday after authorities say a gunman unleashed an unspeakable act of evil, killing eight children and wounding two women in what police described as a domestic violence massacre that has left an entire community shattered.

The bloodshed unfolded early Sunday morning in Shreveport, where police say 31-year-old Shamar Elkins carried out the horrifying attack before fleeing the scene in a stolen vehicle. By the end of the rampage, eight children were dead, two women were seriously wounded, and the suspect himself was killed after a police chase ended in neighboring Bossier Parish.

The victims were heartbreakingly young. According to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office, the slain children ranged in age from just 3 to 11 years old. They were identified 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. Authorities said seven of the children were Elkins’ own, while the eighth was a cousin.

Police say the violence began just after 6 a.m. when officers responded to reports of a domestic disturbance in the 300 block of West 79th Street. But investigators later revealed the horror had already started moments earlier on nearby Harrison Street, where Elkins allegedly shot a woman believed to be his girlfriend before heading to the West 79th Street home.

Once there, police say he gunned down the children in what officials have described as one of the most sickening crime scenes the city has ever seen. Investigators believe many of the children were shot in their sleep, with most suffering gunshot wounds to the head. Seven of the children were found inside the house, while the eighth was discovered dead on a back roof.

“It is a disgusting and evil scene,” police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon said.

As if the carnage were not horrific enough, authorities say Elkins then fled the area and carjacked another victim at gunpoint near Linwood Avenue and West 79th Street. Officers tracked him into neighboring Bossier Parish, where the chase came to a violent end. Police said Elkins was armed with a rifle-style pistol when officers confronted him, forcing them to open fire.

“Officers were forced to discharge their department-issued firearms, neutralizing the suspect,” police said in a statement.

Louisiana State Police are now investigating the officer-involved shooting, though Shreveport police said there is currently nothing to indicate any wrongdoing by the officers involved.

The two women wounded in the rampage survived. One was identified as Elkins’ wife, who was shot in the face but remained alive Sunday. The second woman, believed to be his girlfriend, was also seriously injured. In total, authorities say 10 people were shot in the attack. A teenager also suffered non-life-threatening injuries after reportedly falling from a roof during the chaos.

Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith appeared visibly shaken as he addressed the public.

“I just don’t know what to say. My heart is just taken aback,” Smith told reporters. “I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur.”

For longtime residents, the slaughter was almost impossible to comprehend. Mack London, 71, who has lived on the block since 1991, said he had never seen anything remotely like it.

“Nothing like this has ever happened on this street,” he said. “It was bad. I hate that it happened to those kids.”

Another neighbor, Marie Montgomery, said the sight of first responders carrying the children from the home was something she will never forget.

“When they brought all those kids out of that house, that’s just the worst thing I ever seen,” she said.

Her husband, Freddie Montgomery, said he had seen Elkins the day before standing outside while the children played, giving no sign of the horror to come.

“When we found out what had actually happened over there, it was just, just a shock,” he said. “There is no sense in this.”

The massacre has sent shockwaves far beyond Shreveport. Mayor Tom Arceneaux called it perhaps the worst tragedy the city has ever faced, while Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he was heartbroken over the horrific bloodshed and thanked local law enforcement and first responders. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has long represented the area in Congress, also described the killings as a heartbreaking tragedy.

Authorities are still piecing together what drove Elkins to commit such unimaginable violence, but they have confirmed the shooting was domestic in nature. Bordelon said Elkins had a prior 2019 arrest and conviction for illegal use of a firearm, a record that likely barred him from legally possessing guns.

Elkins also served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 2013 to 2020 as a signal support system specialist and fire support specialist, though officials said he never deployed and left the service as a private.

By Sunday afternoon, members of the Shreveport City Council had gathered near the scene to pray and urge the public to lift up the grieving family and the devastated community. Council Chair Tabatha Taylor, fighting back tears, said the murdered children had their whole lives ahead of them.

“This is the result when someone snaps,” Taylor said. “So I’m going to ask the community, along with prayer, with every mental health consultant that is out there — this family and this community needs you.”

What happened in Shreveport was not just another headline. It was the destruction of innocent life on a scale almost too painful to process. Eight children are gone, two women are fighting to recover, and a city is left staring at the kind of evil that no family, no neighborhood, and no community should ever have to endure.