Shreveport, a city of nearly 200,000 people in northwest Louisiana, remains in a state of shock. This Sunday morning, Shamar Elkins, 31, murdered , also a minor. He shot them at point blank range. The victims were between three and 11 years old. Elkins against two women, one of them his wife, who was taken to the hospital seriously injured. The attacker was shot dead by the police when he tried to flee in a stolen car. This is what happened in the United States in the last two years.
The tragic episode has shaken the country due to the age of the victims and the nature of the event: a father killing seven of his children. The police have not revealed the motive for the events and the investigation continues, while questions accumulate about a tragedy that no one can explain. “This is a unfortunate situation, perhaps the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” Mayor Tom Arceneaux said during a news conference Sunday.
Elkins had mental health problems and had expressed suicidal thoughts, according to family members interviewed by The New York Times. A couple of weeks ago, he called his mother, with whom he had regained his relationship a few years ago. She had him when she was very young and had to leave him in the care of a friend because he had drug problems. His mother revealed to Times that his son sounded dejected. His son reportedly burst into tears and told him he wanted to take his own life because he was overwhelmed by his divorce from his wife and overwhelmed with “dark thoughts.”
The man worked at UPS, a shipping company, and had been married to his wife for two years, but things were not going well and she had expressed her intention to file for divorce.
The residents of Shreveport, which once became the capital of the state of Louisiana, are devastated; The city is mourning one of the most serious events in its history. During the night of Sunday and Monday, they organized vigils and placed flowers and candles along with notes with prayers at the place where the children were murdered.
Shreveport Police Officer Chris Bordelon, who serves as a department spokesman, recounted the events. Shamar Elkins was going through a difficult time, he had erratic behavior, he was about to separate from his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, and he couldn’t get over it. Around five in the morning on Sunday he showed up at his partner’s house, in a house on Harrison Street in Shreveport. He shot his wife several times. Then he went to another nearby home, where the children were. He opened fire on the eight little ones; seven of them were his children. The youngest was barely three years old. He also shot another adult woman who was with them. The police revealed that she was the mother of the eighth murdered child, the nephew of the attacker. She is admitted to a hospital with “life-threatening injuries,” Bordelon told KSLA.
The coroner’s office identified the children as three-year-old Jayla; Shayla, five years old; Kayla, six years old; Layla, seven years old; Markaydon, 10 years old; Sariahh, 11 years old; Khedarrion, six years old; and Braylon, five years old.
The crime scene took place in three homes. The first where he shot his wife, another where he murdered the eight children and the third, which the police have not yet specified.
During the shooting, some children tried to escape through the back door; Others tried to escape through the roof. The police found the body of one of the minors in the upper part of the house, according to the story of state representative, Tammy Phelps, collected by CNN. Another boy, 13 years old, managed to reach the roof of the building and, in his desperate escape, jumped. Although he broke several bones in his leg, he managed to survive. “We are very grateful that he was able to escape,” the police spokesman said.
After killing the eight children, Elkins ran to a local tire store, where he stole a car and fled. Police began a chase through the nearby town of Bossier. Three officers shot at the attacker, who died as a result of gunshot wounds.
a portal that collects violence statistics in the United States, estimates that so far this year there have been 117 mass shootings in the country. This platform considers a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are injured by gunshots, not including the attacker. The organization has recorded 3,758 deaths from firearms so far this year. Of these, 66 were children under 11 years old and another 243 were adolescents between 12 and 17 years old.
The Shreveport police officer claimed that Elkins had a prior record. He was arrested in 2019 for a case related to firearms. According to police, he fired five shots at a car that allegedly threatened him with a gun. The shooting occurred near a garden where children often play, the agents warned. He was previously convicted of drunk driving in 2016.
The shooter served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years, until August 2020, according to the US Army.
