Shreveport police in Louisiana is labeling the event that unfolded on Sunday, April 19, as a “family dispute.” The easy access to firearms in the United States condemns these family dynamics to turn into massacres: eight children aged 1 to 14 were killed. This marks the deadliest shooting in North America in the past two years.
“It is a scene of unprecedented scale for most of us,” summarized Shreveport police spokesperson Chris Bordelon to journalists. The shooter was identified as Shamar Elkins, a 31-year-old former member of the Louisiana National Guard from 2013 to 2020. The exact motive remains unknown.
Police responded to reports of gunfire shortly after 6 am. The crime scene spanned four locations. The authorities reported that the gunman stole a car after the shooting. Pursued by the police to the neighboring city of Bossier City, Shamar Elkins was shot dead.
“We believe he is the only individual who fired shots at these locations,” stated Chris Bordelon. The seven children – two boys and five girls – killed by Shamar Elkins were at their home on 79th Street when the shooting occurred. They all perished. The last victim, a 10-year-old boy, was the son of Troy Brown, the shooter’s brother-in-law. Three other family members, including the shooter’s spouse and a teenager who broke his leg, survived and are being treated at the Shreveport hospital.
Troy Brown, his spouse, and their two children lived with the Elkins couple and their four children. The shooter had three other children who lived nearby with their mother. According to his brother-in-law, Shamar Elkins was going through a divorce. “After our first argument about the divorce, he was completely furious,” he recalled. “He was distraught. I talked to him, and he said, ‘Brother, I don’t want to lose my wife.'”
This shooting marks the deadliest since the death of eight individuals in a shooting in January 2024 in Joliet, Illinois. All victims except one, aged 14 to 47, were relatives of the shooter. While mass shootings in public spaces, schools, or high-profile murders are regularly highlighted, most shootings recorded in the United States involve close circles (family, friends, etc.).
“Since 2006, nearly two-thirds of the victims were family members or acquaintances of their killers,” reports the Washington Post. According to the statistics, at least 89% of mass shootings have been committed by men. In 2026 alone, six other mass shootings have occurred, resulting in the death of 28 victims.
