Shamar Elkins, the Army veteran responsible for the death of his seven children and their cousin, confessed before the tragedy that he had struggled with “dark thoughts,” as per The New York Times.
It was just after 6 am on Sunday, April 19, when Shreveport police officers responded to a call regarding a domestic disturbance. Police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon explained that when they arrived at the scene, they encountered a gruesome sight. Seven of Elkins’ children and their cousin were found dead. Most of the victims were shot in the head while they were sleeping, Bordelon explained.
Elkins’ wife is reported to be hospitalized and in serious condition, as she was also shot during the incident, which allegedly took place after Elkins and her had an argument. Elkins’ girlfriend, with whom he shared three of the children he killed, has also been injured when he shot her at a nearby house.
The children who were murdered were three boys and five girls, ages 3 to 11, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said. Police had previously given their ages as about 1 to 14.
Their mothers identified the children 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.
“I just don’t know what to say. My heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith told reporters, per NBC News. “I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur.”
State Rep. Tammy Phelps told the Associated Press that some children tried to escape through the back door.
“I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.
Elkins was later killed by police during an attempted carjacking. According to a database maintained by the Associated Press in partnership with Northeastern University, the Shreveport shooting was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024.
Just weeks earlier, on Easter Sunday, Elkins called his mother, Mahelia Elkins, and his stepfather, Marcus Jackson, and reportedly told them he was going through severe emotional distress and that his marriage to Shaneiqua Pugh was ending. He said he was consumed by “dark thoughts” and warned his stepfather that some people “don’t come back from their demons.”
“I told him, ‘You can beat stuff, man. I don’t care what you’re going through, you can beat it,’” Jackson told The New York Times. “Then I remember him telling me: ‘Some people don’t come back from their demons.’”
Elkins worked for UPS and served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a signal support system specialist and fire support specialist, according to The Times.
A colleague at UPS described Elkins as a devoted father, but said he often appeared stressed and would pull his hair out, leaving a noticeable bald spot, the report stated.
Elkins’ mother noted that she reconnected with her son more than a decade ago after previously leaving him to be raised by a family friend, Betty Walker. She gave birth to Elkins as a teenager while struggling with a crack cocaine addiction.
Walker said she did not witness the shootings on Sunday morning but was aware that Elkins had shot his wife multiple times, the paper reported.
She last saw him when his family visited for dinner just last weekend, and said he did not appear unusual or distressed at the time, as per the New York Post.
“I was getting up this morning to make myself some coffee, and I got the call,” Walker recalled. “My babies — my babies are gone.”
Elkins also had two prior convictions, including for driving while intoxicated in 2016 and for the illegal use of weapons in 2019, the outlet said.
In March 2019, a police report stated that the National Guard veteran allegedly pulled a 9mm handgun from his waistband and fired at a vehicle five times after a driver reportedly pointed a handgun at him. One of the bullets was later found near a school where children were playing.
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