UPDATE:
Shamar Elkins’ chilling warning to wife years before massacring 8 kids in Shreveport, Louisiana
The deranged Army vet who savagely murdered his seven kids and nephew in Louisiana on Sunday once ominously warned his wife he would kill their entire family if she ever left him.
“I’ll kill you, my kids and myself,” Shamar Elkins, 31, hissed to his spouse, Shaneiqua Pugh, three years ago after she said she was considering filing for divorce, according to the killer’s adoptive mother, who witnessed the comment, to the New York Times.
Betty Walker said she was in the kitchen cooking when her adopted son made the frightening declaration as he and Pugh were sitting on the couch while their four daughters were playing outside.
The older woman said she told the couple, “Well, don’t play like that.”
This past weekend, Elkins fatally shot his seven children — his four daughters with Pugh: Jayla, 3, Shayla, 5, Kayla, 6, and Layla, 7 — and three kids by girlfriend, Christina Snow: Braylon, 5, Khedarrion, 6, and Sariahh, 11.
He also shot dead Mar’Kaydon Pugh, 10, the son of his wife’s sister, Keosha, who also lived at the West 79th Street home in Shreveport, where the Sunday morning massacre took place and broke her hip attempting to escape the rampage by jumping off the roof.
Elkins with his wife Shaneiqua Pugh. Facebook/Shaneiqua Elkins
He turned his “assault-style” pistol on Pugh and Snow, too, severely wounding both women.
Elkins — who ended up fatally shooting himself as cops closed in — had been due in divorce court with Pugh the next day.
Walker told the outlet she had raised Elkins as his own and that his biological mother was a teenage crack addict when he was born.
She said she “never thought” her adoptive son would actually “go through killing himself and these kids.”
Walker said Elkins and Pugh had accused each other of infidelity during their marriage and that financial difficulties were the source of much of the other tension in their rocky relationship.
While investigators are still working to determine a motive in Sunday’s slayings, Elkins’ upcoming divorce was clearly rattling his already shaky foundation.
After Pugh told him she wanted a divorce, Elkins made a disturbing call to his biological mother, Mahelia Elkins, and stepdad Marcus Jackson on Easter Sunday to tell them he was considering ending his life and that he was drowning in “dark thoughts.”
Jackson attempted to talk him off the ledge and said he’d get past the difficult time if he could summon the strength to push through.
“Some people don’t come back from their demons,” Elkins grimly replied.
Walker said that in February, Elkins tried to take his own life but that he clammed up when she visited him at the hospital, where Pugh was by his side.
He was later admitted to a Veterans Affairs hospital for a week and a half after he stopped in for a mental-health evaluation.
UPDATE:
Louisiana killer dad Shamar Elkins’ possible motive revealed after slaughtering 8 kids
The maniac who slaughtered seven of his children and one of their cousins in Louisiana on Sunday was set to do battle with his estranged wife in divorce court Monday.
Stress-riddled Army vet Shamar Elkins, 31, called his mom, Mahelia Elkins, and stepdad Marcus Jackson on Easter Sunday to tell them that his wife of two years, Shaneiqua Pugh, had filed for divorce — chillingly adding that he wanted to kill himself and was drowning in “dark thoughts,” the New York Times reported.
Jackson said he told his despondent stepson that he could overcome problems if he stood tough.
Elkins replied grimly, “Some people don’t come back from their demons,” Jackson recalled to the outlet.
The killer then ended up shooting the eight children execution-style Sunday morning. He also turned his gun on Pugh, who was hit several times in the head and stomach, and the woman believed to be his girlfriend, Christina Snow, who was shot in the head. Kin identified Snow as the girlfriend, KSLA reported.
Pugh was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, officials said. Snow also was severely wounded.
Elkins had two previous convictions: for driving while intoxicated in 2016 and for the illegal use of weapons in 2019, the outlet said.
In March 2019, a police report detailed that the National Guard vet pulled a .9mm handgun from his waistband and shot at a vehicle five times after a driver pulled a handgun on him — with one of Elkins’ bullets being discovered near a school where children were playing.
He also had a history of alluding to mental-health struggles and marriage woes on Facebook.
“Dear God, Today I ask You to help me guard my mind and my emotions. When negativity arises, remind me to say, ‘It does not belong to me,’ in the name of Jesus,” Elkins wrote April 9.
A month earlier he wrote on the social network, “Dads, if you could go back in time and have kids with a different woman but still have the same kids, would you do it?”
Elkins had two previous convictions: for driving while intoxicated in 2016 and for the illegal use of weapons in 2019, the outlet said.
In March 2019, a police report detailed that the National Guard vet pulled a 9mm handgun from his waistband and shot at a vehicle five times after a driver pulled a handgun on him — with one of Elkins’ bullets being discovered near a school where children were playing.
The Times reported that a confrontation escalated after a man tried to take Elkins’ marijuana and run away with it.
UPDATE:
911 call revealed after Shamar Elkins killed 8 kids and shot their moms in ‘disgusting and evil scene’
Chilling 911 dispatcher audio captures the moment police learned that crazed Army vet Shamar Elkins had murdered eight young kids — with one of the two women he also shot able to raise the alarm.
“They have a female with a gunshot wound to the face saying the assailant left the scene,” the dispatcher says in the call early Sunday, as reported by the “Today” show.
“The female is saying there’s nine subjects that live inside the residence, and he may have shot them all,” the dispatcher continues of what police in Shreveport, Louisiana, called a “disgusting and evil scene.”
Elkins, 31, a Louisiana State Guard veteran, killed eight children — five girls and three boys ages 3 to 11 — and seriously wounded two women believed to be his wife and his girlfriend. Seven of the kids were his children with the women while the eighth was one of the slain kids’ cousins.
Elkins attacked one of the women at the first address before traveling to a nearby second home, where he killed the children, according to police.
Later, the dispatcher describes how Elkins has been shot after engaging cops in a police chase into neighboring Bossier City.
“Confirm shots fired,” the dispatcher says.
Many of the young victims appeared to have been shot in the head while they slept, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon.
Seven of them were found dead inside the house while the eighth was killed on a back roof after apparently trying to flee, Bordelon said.
A ninth child, 13, escaped the home alive with broken bones after jumping off the roof.
The deceased children were identified 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, according to a Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office statement obtained by KSLA.
Elkins, who had confessed his “dark thoughts” to relatives in recent weeks, was the father of seven of the eight children shot and killed.
Police are still trying to establish a motive for his despicable crimes.
It was reported that he and his wife, Sheniqua Pugh, were in the process of divorcing and were due in court in Shreveport on Monday.
The shooting is now being investigated by Louisiana State Police.
UPDATE:
Officials identify victims of Louisiana shooting, children ages 3 to 11
Eight children were killed in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, that police described as a “tragic domestic violence incident.”
The April 19 shooting spanned two homes in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport, authorities said. The children’s ages ranged from 3 to 11, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office. (Authorities initially released a different age range for the victims.)
Bordelon said the gunman, identified as Shamar Elkins, is the father of seven of the children killed in the attack. Authorities say he also shot the mother of his children and another woman, both of whom survived with serious injuries.
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux called the shooting possibly “the worst tragic situation” the city has ever seen and asked to keep the victims’ families in their prayers.
“We have hurting families,” Arceneaux said. “We have hurting police officers, coroner’s personnel, fire department, sheriff people, and this affects this entire community, so we all mourn with these families.”
The shooting was the deadliest mass shooting since January 2024, when a gunman shot and killed eight people in a suburb of Chicago, according to the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database. It is the ninth mass killing of the year and the seventh mass shooting, according to database data.
Here’s what we know about the victims of the Shreveport mass shooting.
Names and ages of children released
Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office has released the names and ages of the children who were shot and killed Sunday morning.
The victims were 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, according to the coroner’s office.
Shreveport Councilwoman Chairwoman Tabitha Taylor said the incident was a domestic disturbance, which is something that the city council is working to be proactive with.
“Eight children are deceased. I can’t be strong, I think about this mother and the family and what the community has lost, and I do not have the words,” she said through tears.
UPDATE:
Police have identified the gunman who killed eight children in Louisiana in the deadliest US mass shooting since 2024
The Louisiana gunman who murdered eight children before he was killed was a 31-year-old Army vet who posted a picture of himself with one of his daughters hours before Sunday’s massacre.
Shamar Elkins — who put up another Facebook photo of himself earlier this month surrounded by seven children, saying he was “with all my kids” — unleashed his unthinkable carnage at three addresses in Shreveport shortly after 6 a.m. Central Time, authorities said.
Cops said he was related to at least some of the slain victims, who ranged from 1 to 14, and there was audible gasping as a police rep read out their ages at a press conference Sunday.
Elkins also shot two women in the head, with one described as in life-threatening condition.
On his Facebook page, Elkins shared a picture of him with his eldest daughter as she ate a burger Saturday, hours before his rampage.
“Lol!!!! Took my oldest on a lil 1 on 1 date had to catch her down bad ugh ugh,” the killer wrote, along with a string of laughing emojis.
Two weeks ago, Elkins shared a picture of himself posing with seven children as he described taking them to church for an Easter service.
“Happy Easter had a wonderful time at church for the first time with all my kids what a blessed day,” he wrote in the Facebook post.
But Elkins also hinted at mental-health struggles in another recent Facebook post, where he called for God to “guard” his mind.
“Dear God, Today I ask You to help me guard my mind and my emotions,” read the post dated April 9.
“When negativity arises, remind me to say, ‘It does not belong to me, in the name of Jesus,’ ” he said.
“When depression tries to settle in, when anger rises, when anxiety or panic comes, give me the awareness to recognize what is not from You and the strength to reject it immediately in the name of JESUS.”
The mass murderer’s wife previously shared a picture of Elkins in a US Army uniform in 2016, as she awaited his return from active service.
“Been waiting for yu [sic] 5 more days… And yu all mines. Damn bby I gt to fatten yu up,” she wrote at the time.
In March 2019, three years after completing his service, Elkins was arrested on a charge of illegal use of weapons and carrying a firearm on school property, KTBS reported.
He was just 300 feet away from a Shreveport high school when he fired five rounds at a car — precisely in the direction of the school — as it sped away, according to a police report obtained by the outlet.
He pleaded guilty to the illegal weapons charge in October 2019 and was placed on probation for 18 months. The firearm charge was dismissed.
Sunday’s shooting is now being handled by Louisiana State Police as it crosses parish boundaries.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he and first lady Sharon were heartbroken over the events.
“We’re praying for everyone affected. We’re deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene,” Landry wrote on Facebook.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was born in Shreveport, wrote on X, “Heartbreaking tragedy in Shreveport this morning — 8 children were senselessly killed and multiple others were injured.
“My team is in touch with local law enforcement as more details emerge,” he said.
“We’re holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. And we are grateful to the Shreveport, Bossier, and Louisiana State Police for their swift response,” Johnson added.
Eight children and teens were killed early Sunday in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, authorities said. The suspected shooter is also dead, according to police.
Ten people were struck by gunfire in all, Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said at a news conference. He described the incident as “domestic in nature” and said authorities believe at least some of those shot were the “descendants” of the shooter.
The ages of the deceased ranged from 1 to approximately 14 years old, police said. None of the people killed or injured were identified by name. Some of the injured have been hospitalized, said Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux.
The shootings took place at multiple residences in the Louisiana city, including two homes on the same block and a third in another part of the neighborhood, police said. Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X that multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.
Officers responded to the shooting just after 6 a.m. ET at one of the residences where victims were shot, Shreveport police said. The suspect fled, carjacked a vehicle nearby and was chased by police, according to the department. Police said the suspect was killed after officers involved in that pursuit discharged their firearms.
The suspect was acting on their own, police said. The suspect has not yet been identified, but police said the department planned to release a name once necessary notifications had been made.
Louisiana State Police said its detectives will investigate the circumstances around the suspect’s death, since it involved an officer. In a statement, the superintendent said investigators were “working to process the scene and gather further information.”
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said he couldn’t “even begin to imagine how such an event could occur,” referring to the shooting, and said investigators will be “going through every piece of evidence at every scene” to understand what took place.
Arceneaux said the shooting “affects the entire community.”
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” he said, adding, “We all mourn for these families.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X that he and his wife Sharon “are heartbroken over this situation” and are “praying for everyone affected.”
Majority House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose Louisiana district includes the site of the shooting, referred to it as a “heartbreaking tragedy” in a post on X and said he was holding “the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time.”
The White House is also monitoring the situation, an official told CBS News.
