Shooting rampage in Louisiana: Father kills children and cousin before being shot by police
It is the worst shooting in the United States in over two years. It took place in Shreveport, a major city in northwest Louisiana.
Seven brothers and sisters, along with a cousin, were shot dead by their father before he himself was shot by the police, authorities announced on Sunday. 20 Minutes provides an overview of this horrific family tragedy.
What happened?
Responding to a call on Sunday, officers discovered victims in two separate homes, highlighted police corporal Chris Bordelon at a press conference, noting that incidents were unfolding at a third location.
Three boys and five girls aged 3 to 11 were shot dead,” said the coroner’s office. The final victim was a cousin. According to Corporal Bordelon, ten individuals in total were hit by the shots. He confirmed that seven of the eight minors shot were the author’s children.
Are there any survivors?
The two severely injured victims are women, one of whom was the mother of several of the children, the police said, adding that they “actively lead the investigation to determine the shooter’s motives.” The police stated that one of the women, shot in the face, alerted a neighbor who then called for help.
Nine children were in the second residence where the shooter went. One of them survived and was hospitalized for a non-serious injury, Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux told the press.
Who was the suspected shooter?
Police identified the shooter as Shamar Elkins, 31. After fleeing in a stolen vehicle, he was pursued by law enforcement and shot. “At the end of this pursuit, the suspect got out of the vehicle with a weapon, and our agents were forced to neutralize him,” explained Chris Bordelon. No officers were injured.
According to the police, Shamar Elkins had previously been arrested in 2019 for weapon possession. However, authorities stated they had no record of any prior incidents of domestic violence involving him. The Washington Post, citing a military statement, specified that Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 2013 to 2020. He was not deployed in operations and left the military as a private. His brother-in-law, Troy Brown, who lived with him, told the daily that the shooter’s wife had recently filed for divorce, which disturbed him. “After the initial dispute over the divorce, he acted as if he was losing his mind,” Troy Brown said. “It was bothering him. I talked to him and he said, ‘Bro, I don’t want to lose my wife.'”
Freddie Montgomery, a 72-year-old resident of the neighborhood, recounted seeing the police removing the children’s bodies on Sunday. “Yesterday afternoon, at this time, all those children were playing in the yard in front of the house. And he was sitting on the porch,” he said. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he had the “broken heart.”
“Senseless tragedy”
Mike Johnson, president of the U.S. House of Representatives and regional congressman, denounced on X an “unspeakable tragedy”. According to data from the Gun Violence Archive organization, this is the worst toll from a firearm shooting in the United States since the deaths of eight people in a Chicago suburb in January 2024.
With more firearms in circulation than residents, the United States has the highest gun death rate of any developed country. Shootings are a recurring scourge that successive governments have so far failed to stem, with many Americans remaining very attached to their weapons. In 2025, nearly 15,000 people, not including suicides, were killed by firearms, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
