8 minors die in a shooting following a "domestic altercation" in Louisiana

Eight children, aged between just 3 and 11 years, died early Sunday in Shreveport, Louisiana, in a shocking act of violence that marks the deadliest mass shooting in the country in over two years.

A father, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, shot and killed his seven children and one cousin, and severely injured two women, including his wife, in a series of attacks at least two locations before dawn.

Following the shooting, which authorities described as "domestic in nature," the shooter fled the area in a stolen vehicle and was pursued by the police; he was subsequently wounded and died at the hands of the officers.

The Caddo Parish coroner's office identified the victims 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.

During the shooting, some children attempted to escape through the back door, State Representative Tammy Phelps said during a press conference with other city officials. A 13-year-old boy escaped from the roof and was injured, the police reported.

Much remains unclear about the circumstances and motive for the shooting.

“This is a tragic situation, perhaps the worst tragic situation we have had in Shreveport,” said Mayor Tom Arceneaux at a press conference.

As the police continue to reconstruct what led to the massacre, this is what we know so far.

The police responded for the first time to reports of gunfire in the Cedar Grove community of Shreveport—a city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents—shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, according to Shreveport Police Department’s Sergeant Chris Bordelon.

Police believe Elkins first shot his wife in a home on Harrison Street. He then went to another house on West 79th St., where he shot the eight children and another woman, the mother of the eighth deceased child.

Elkins' wife suffered "very serious injuries," Bordelon told CNN affiliate KSLA. The other woman, believed to be the mother of the eighth deceased child, has "life-threatening injuries," he added.

Arceneaux told CNN that the attacker was believed to have a relationship with both women.

The 13-year-old who jumped from the roof of the building and was injured has "some broken bones," but is expected to recover, according to Bordelon.

“We are very grateful that he was able to escape,” Bordelon said.

A neighbor, who requested to remain anonymous, said her security camera captured video of what appears to be the attacker fleeing and running towards a tire shop.

Armed with a rifle, Elkins carjacked a vehicle and led police on a chase into the neighboring parish, Bordelon said. The police injured and killed the shooter in Bossier Parish, the Police Department reported on Facebook.

“Officers located the stolen vehicle and initiated a pursuit. The chase continued into Bossier Parish, where officers ultimately confronted the suspect. Officers were compelled to fire their service weapons, neutralizing the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene,” said Shreveport Police.

The shooting is the deadliest in the United States since January 2024, when a 23-year-old man shot eight people, most of whom were his relatives, in a suburb of Chicago.

There have been at least 114 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter.

The police are still working to determine "a complete motive and understand why this happened, but it is domestic in nature," Bordelon told KSLA.

Community members light candles to mourn the deaths of eight children killed in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

Elkins had served seven years in the Louisiana National Guard, from August 2013 to August 2020, as a signal support systems specialist and fire support specialist, a spokesperson for the Army told CNN. He was never deployed and left the Army in 2020 with the rank of private.

He had at least two prior criminal convictions in Caddo District Court, according to records. He was arrested in March 2019 for illegal use of weapons and for carrying a firearm on school property, and for DUI in 2016.

In the 2019 incident, a police officer wrote in an arrest report that Elkins pulled a 9mm handgun from his pants and fired five times at a vehicle after the driver of the car pointed a gun at him and “fled.” The shooting occurred near a school where children were playing outside, the officer wrote, according to court documents.

Records show that Elkins married his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, 34, about two years ago.

Family members of Elkins told the New York Times that he was stressed about his relationship with his wife. Elkins had called his mother and stepfather and told them that his wife wanted a divorce and that he was sinking into "dark thoughts," the couple told the Times.

Elkins and his wife were in the midst of a separation and had been arguing before the shooting, said Crystal Brown, a relative of one of the injured women, to The Associated Press.

CNN has attempted to reach out to family, friends, and neighbors who knew Elkins and Pugh.

Community members in Shreveport, Louisiana, react to the mass shooting on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

Mayor Arceneaux described the scene of the shooting as "horrific" and told CNN that the attack "shakes the entire city."

"Our community is mourning the unimaginable loss of innocent children. There are no words that can make sense of this, and no distance that can protect us from it,” Arceneaux said in a statement, urging the community to come together to support one another.

"We must not ignore the deeper issues: domestic violence, untreated trauma, and the silence that allows both to grow," he wrote.

City Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor broke down in tears while speaking about the events and called on mental health counselors to support everyone affected by the tragedy.

"This family and this community needs you," she said. "I need you all, because how do we move forward with this?"

The deaths of the eight children more than double the number of homicides in Shreveport and Caddo Parish this year, according to the coroner's office.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said that multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating what led to the tragedy.

“We do not yet know all the details, but I am deeply saddened by the loss of innocent lives. I am praying for the victims and their families following this devastating violence,” Murrill wrote in a statement.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents the Shreveport area in Congress, called the deaths "heartbreaking."

“We keep the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” Johnson said.

People attend a candlelight vigil after eight children were killed and two women injured during a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, early Sunday, April 19, 2026.

At a vigil Sunday night in Shreveport, community members gathered to light candles and leave flowers and stuffed animals in tribute to the children killed in the gunfire.

"It makes you take your kids, hug them, hold them, and tell them how much you love them because you just never know,” Kimberlin Jackson, a vigil attendee, told AP.