8 children killed in shooting in Louisiana as father targets his family

Updated on: April 20, 2026 / 9:02 AM EDT / CBS News
A man killed eight children — seven of his own kids and one of their cousins— early Sunday in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, officials said.

The shooter is also dead after police pursued him and opened fire.

It was the nation's deadliest shooting in more than two years.

The children were killed in what police described as an "execution-style" shooting.

They included five girls and three boys, ranging in age from 3 to 11, the coroner's office confirmed.

According to the office, their mothers identified the children 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.

Police identified the suspected shooter to CBS News as Shamar Elkins.

He previously pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in 2019.

Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 2013 to 2020, as a signal support system specialist and fire support specialist, the U.S.

Army confirmed.

Ten victims were struck by gunfire in all, Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said at a news conference.

Two adult women have been hospitalized with serious gunshot wounds and were expected to survive.

One of the women was the gunman's wife, according to police.

A relative told AP that the two women were the mothers of the man's children.

She said he and his wife had been arguing about their separation and were due in court Monday.

The incident began as a domestic dispute at around 5 a.m.

The suspect first shot a woman in the face before going to a different, nearby residence, where all eight people who were killed were shot, according to police.

They said he targeted them even as some tried to escape by crawling through a window and climbing onto the roof of the house, where one child was found dead.

Police also said a 13-year-old was injured when they jumped off the roof to escape; that child is expected to recover.

Police said one of the victims ran to an adjacent residence and was able to call authorities.

"The kids played in the yard every evening," Montgomery said.

"Yesterday evening, he was sitting on the porch, I waved at him, he waved back, the children were in the yard ...

and then this morning we woke up to all of this."
Photos on the gunman's Facebook page show him with several of his children.

One of them was posted just two weeks ago, with the caption: "With all my kids, what a blessed day."
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X that multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.

Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said he couldn't "even begin to imagine how such an event could occur" and said investigators will be "going through every piece of evidence at every scene" to understand what took place.

"Over 30% of our crimes and 30% of our murders in the city of Shreveport are domestic in relation.

Now that number has gone up," Shreveport Councilman Grayson Boucher said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

"We've more than doubled our homicide in the city of Shreveport because of one act of domestic violence."
Officers responded to the shooting just after 6 a.m.

ET at the residence where the victims were shot, Shreveport police said.

The suspect fled, carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint nearby and was chased by police, according to the department.

Police said the suspect was killed after officers involved in that chase opened fire.

The shooter was acting on his own, police said.

They believe he used multiple weapons, as officers recovered a handgun at the residence and a rifle-style handgun on the gunman's person.

Louisiana State Police said its detectives will investigate the circumstances around the suspect's death, since it involved an officer.

In a statement , the superintendent said investigators were "working to process the scene and gather further information."
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said the shooting "affects the entire community."
"This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we've ever had in Shreveport," he said, adding, "We all mourn for these families."
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X that he and his wife Sharon "are heartbroken over this situation" and are "praying for everyone affected," while Louisiana Sen.

Bill Cassidy said his "heart is with the Bossier Shreveport community as we mourn the innocent lives lost this morning."
"I wish the surviving victims a complete and swift recovery," Cassidy said.

Bossier Parish, neighboring Shreveport, is where the car chase ended and the suspect was fatally shot, police said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose Louisiana district includes Shreveport, referred to it as a "heartbreaking tragedy" in a post on X and said he was holding "the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time."
Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who started a gun-violence prevention organization after she was severely wounded in a mass shooting in 2011, also released a statement.

"This is a devastating act of domestic gun violence, taking the lives of eight young children.

My heart is breaking for their families, the survivors, and everyone in Shreveport today," Giffords said.

"All of us should be outraged that we live in a country that routinely subjects our kids to such unimaginable violence."
The White House was also monitoring the situation, an official told CBS News.

The Associated Press and Jason Allen contributed to this report.