This Sunday, a man killed eight minors between the ages of 1 and 14—seven of them his children—and seriously injured his wife and another woman who could be his girlfriend before stealing a vehicle, fleeing and being shot dead by police officers in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The deadliest shooting in the US since 2024
This is the deadliest shooting in the United States since 2024, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, an American nonprofit organization that compiles data on all incidents of gun violence in the country.
Investigators confirmed that eight children were murdered inside a residence located in the 300 block of West 79th Street during “a violent domestic violence incident,” Shreveport Police reported in a statement posted online.
The event took place early this Sunday in Shreveport, an inland city of almost 200,000 inhabitants, when a man first shot an adult woman on Harrison Street before heading to the residence on West 79th Street (about 800 meters away), where he committed the shooting.
“After fleeing the scene, the suspect stole a vehicle at gunpoint from an adult male near the intersection of Linwood Avenue and West 79th Street,” the statement said.
After that, the Police located the stolen vehicle and began a chase until they “finally detained the suspect.” “Officers were forced to use their service weapons, neutralizing the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The suspect also shot “the mother of seven of the eight deceased children,” who suffered “very serious” injuries. The eighth, “was the son of the other” injured woman, who “fled through the roof.” She, he detailed, “has suffered injuries that endanger her life” and would be in critical condition. The spokesperson himself, in parallel statements reported by NBC, pointed out that it could be the suspect’s girlfriend.
Another child managed to escape
The Shreveport Police spokesman added that “a 13-year-old boy who had also fled the home” in the same way “has suffered injuries, some broken bones.”
Relatives of the attacker cited by the New York Times stated that Elkins had mental health problems and had recently expressed suicidal thoughts.
