The house where a mass shooting took place is seen in Shreveport, Louisiana, on April 19, 2026.
Image: AFP
A man shot dead eight children -- seven of them his own -- early Sunday in the southern US state of Louisiana in an incident of domestic violence that spanned three locations, police said.
The early morning massacre at a gray house in the city of Shreveport was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States in more than two years, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
Two women were shot and seriously injured, including the mother of some of the slain children.
Three boys and five girls aged between three and 11 were shot and killed, the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office said. Seven of the children were siblings, and one was a cousin.
A ninth child escaped with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
Police identified the gunman as Shamar Elkins, 31, who was shot dead following a police chase after carjacking a vehicle.
"At the end of that pursuit, the suspect exited the vehicle with a firearm, and ultimately our officers were forced to neutralize the suspect," police Corporal Chris Bordelon told reporters.
An AFP videographer at the scene saw five bullet holes in the white door of the small, two-story house. Well-wishers laid bouquets of flowers nearby.
Freddie Montgomery, 72, who lives across the street, said he saw police remove bodies from the house Sunday morning.
"At this time yesterday afternoon, all of those kids were in the front yard playing. And he (Elkins) was sitting on the porch," Montgomery told AFP.
Bordelon said seven of the eight children were the shooter's "own."
Police said that Elkins was arrested in 2019 in a firearms case in which he pleaded guilty, but they were not aware of other issues of domestic violence in his past.
US media reported that he served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years, although he was never deployed, before leaving in 2020.
Elkins had marital problems with his wife and was struggling with his mental health, The New York Times reported, citing family members.
The coroner's office said the children who were killed were identified by their mothers 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.
ABC affiliate KTBS reported that the two women were shot in the head.
The United States, where firearms are readily available, is a frequent scene of gun violence, with thousands of people killed every year. It has the highest rate of gun-related deaths among all developed nations.
AFP