Eight children were killed in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Sunday, April 19, 2026, according to multiple reports. The shooting occurred across three homes in the Cedar Grove community of south Shreveport, police said. Police responded to reports of shots fired just after 6 a.m. CT, according to Bordelon. The suspect carjacked a vehicle and led police on a chase into the next parish, where officers exchanged gunfire, Mayor Tom Arceneaux said. The suspect is deceased, but it is unclear whether he died from a self-inflicted wound or by police gunfire, Arceneaux added. The shooting is the deadliest US mass shooting since January 2024, according to the USA TODAY and Associated Press database.
The children killed were aged between 3 and 11 years old, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office. Two women were injured in the shooting, according to multiple reports, and a teenager was also wounded, according to research. The women are both in critical condition, and the teenager has non-life-threatening injuries, Mayor Arceneaux said. Victims were found in two homes along West 79th Street and a third home on nearby Harrison Street, according to Bordelon. Liza Demming, a neighbor, said her security camera captured video of the gunman running away toward a tire shop. Demming said she could hear two shots on the audio and later saw one of the child victims, who had already been covered, lying on the roof of the house. She said she never heard anything like a fight or argument.
The gunman was identified by multiple sources as Shamar Elkins, 31, though police have not officially released the names of the victims or the suspected shooter, according to research. Police said the shooting was a domestic incident. Investigators believe the person is related to at least some of the victims, according to research. The gunman had seven of his own children among the victims, according to multiple reports. He had a relationship with one or both of the women, Mayor Arceneaux said. The gunman had been arrested in 2019 in a firearms case, police said. He served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 2013 to 2020, according to the US Army. Relatives said he was struggling with mental health problems.
We are failing our children. We need to do more to prevent gun violence.
Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr. owns the home where the shootings occurred but said he does not know the family who rented the home. A person who works for Pastor Johnson had rented the home to the family, he said. U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields said in a statement, 'We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and we are praying for the victims and their families.' Gun control advocacy group Giffords said, 'We are failing our children. We need to do more to prevent gun violence.'
The Louisiana State Police are investigating the officer-involved shooting, according to research. No officers were injured, Louisiana State Police said. There have been at least 114 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Unanswered questions include the motive for the shooting, the exact relationship between the suspect and the victims, and how the suspect obtained the firearm.
In other news, Ukraine's patrol police chief Yevhen Zhukov resigned after a mass shooting in Kyiv, according to the Kyiv Independent. A small propeller plane made an emergency landing on a field in Hallberg, Sweden, according to the Swedish Maritime Administration. Iran announced it will boycott talks in Islamabad if the US does not lift the blockade of Iranian ports, according to Iran via the Tasnim news agency. Donald Trump threatened to destroy all Iranian power plants and bridges, he said on Truth Social. Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul left the foreign ministry after reports of ties to Jeffrey Epstein, according to Dagbladet. A 13-year-old boy shot his father dead outside a school in Hammond, Louisiana, according to the Hammond Police Department. The 13-year-old was disarmed by a school resource officer and taken into custody, Hammond Police Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr. said. The father died from his injuries at a hospital, police said. A young child in the car was uninjured, police said. The suspect faces second-degree murder charges, police said.