Louisiana officials said Sunday that eight children were killed in a mass shooting in Shreveport, sparked by a domestic dispute.
Suspect Shamar Elkins was shot and killed by police after carjacking a vehicle.
Recommended Stories
The children killed ranged from 3 to 11 years old, according to the Shreveport Police Department, rattling the northwestern Louisiana town of 180,000 residents. Seven of the eight victims were Elkins’s children. Two women, one believed to be Elkins’s wife and the other his girlfriend, were also shot and seriously injured.
“I just don’t know what to say. My heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said of the shooting. “I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur.”
The deadly incident spanned three homes in Shreveport, where police responded early Sunday morning following reports of a domestic disturbance. Spokesman Christopher Bordelon said authorities chased down the man they said was responsible for the murders.
“We do believe him to be the only individual that fired gunshots at these locations here,” Bordelon said.
The three shooting-related scenes were on W. 79th Street, Harrison Street, and Bossier Parish, on Brompton Lane, according to authorities. As the suspect fled, he was fatally shot in Bossier Parish.
“You have three different scenes, the shooting itself occurred just down the road over here, the 300 block of West 79th,” he said. “There’s also another shooting related to this on Harrison Street, and then there’s an adjacent residence on West 79 where one of the victims ran to after the shooting.”
When reached by the Washington Examiner Sunday afternoon, SPD said the Louisiana State Police is “currently investigating” the officer-involved shooting.
BILL CASSIDY RAMPS UP FUNDRAISING OPERATION DESPITE FACING TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER
“This is an extensive scene, unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” Police Chief Wayne Smith said during a press briefing.
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux added.
