The victims included children between three and eleven years old, with almost all found dead inside a green single-story house. According to police, one child was shot while trying to get down from the roof at the back, and evidence at the scene showed bloody handprints leading through the house, indicating the children were chased as they tried to flee out through a side door. A door was shot to pieces with bullet holes that seemed to come from inside, and blood was smeared over walls and the facade.
Two adult women, including the children's mother, were also shot in the attack and are still being treated in hospital after head injuries. Just hours earlier, Elkins had posted a picture on Facebook of his oldest daughter eating hamburgers, and in other posts, he hinted that he struggled with mental illness. The shooting was reported at three addresses, and police chased and shot Elkins dead during the pursuit.
I'm still shaking, it affects me a lot.
Neighbors expressed deep emotional impact from the tragedy. According to Aftonbladet, Latasha Odom, 48, described still shaking and said it affects her a lot. According to Aftonbladet, Satonia Small, 51, described feeling terrible, emphasizing that the children had their whole lives ahead of them.
I will move away from here.
Then maybe I could have done something, like help the children to flee.
I have my own children – and this really crept close.
In the mornings, so much happens here that I'm afraid to let my 15-year-old son go to school. I stand and watch him the whole way until he goes in.
I feel terrible. This is my area. I was born and raised here. Eight small children ... they had their whole lives ahead of them.