Eight children were killed in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, that police described as a "tragic domestic violence incident."
The April 19 shooting spanned two homes in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport, authorities said. The children's ages ranged from 3 to 11, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office. (Authorities initially released a different age range for the victims.)
Bordelon said the gunman, identified as Shamar Elkins, is the father of seven of the children killed in the attack. Authorities say he also shot the mother of his children and another woman, both of whom survived with serious injuries.
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux called the shooting possibly "the worst tragic situation" the city has ever seen and asked to keep the victims' families in their prayers.
"We have hurting families," Arceneaux said. "We have hurting police officers, coroner's personnel, fire department, sheriff people, and this affects this entire community, so we all mourn with these families."
The shooting was the deadliest mass shooting since January 2024, when a gunman shot and killed eight people in a suburb of Chicago, according to the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database. It is the ninth mass killing of the year and the seventh mass shooting, according to database data.
Crime scene tape has been taken down in the 300 block of West 79th Street in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Sunday, where eight children are dead in what police say was a domestic shooting.
Here's what we know about the victims of the Shreveport mass shooting.
Names and ages of children released
Caddo Parish Coroner's Office has released the names and ages of the children who were shot and killed Sunday morning.
The victims were 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, according to the coroner's office.
Shreveport Councilwoman Chairwoman Tabitha Taylor said the incident was a domestic disturbance, which is something that the city council is working to be proactive with.
“Eight children are deceased. I can’t be strong, I think about this mother and the family and what the community has lost, and I do not have the words," she said through tears.
