By Leah Douglas and Jeffrey Dastin
April 19 (Reuters) – A gunman killed eight children, with ages ranging from 1 to 14, in a mass shooting on Sunday at a house in Shreveport, Louisiana, in an incident described as domestic violence before police fatally shot him in a vehicle chase, local authorities said.
The bodies of seven children were found inside the house, while the eighth was shot while attempting a rooftop escape, Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Christopher Bordelon told local TV station KTBS. The suspect had children who lived at the home, police said.
Preliminary information indicated the events began when the suspect shot a woman and then went a few blocks away to the home where the children lived, according to a Facebook post from the Shreveport police.
Bordelon told KTBS that there was an “incredibly gruesome” crime scene.
Police have identified the suspect as Shamar Elkins, Leigh Anne Evensky, director of communications for the Shreveport mayor’s office, told Reuters.
The incident occurred after 6 a.m on Sunday, Bordelon told reporters. At least 10 people were shot, Bordelon said, but did not provide details on the status of surviving victims.
The suspect carjacked a vehicle after the shootings and was killed when police fired at the vehicle during a chase that went into neighboring Bossier Parish, Bordelon said. Louisiana State Police are investigating the officer-involved shooting of the man, spokesperson Kate Stegall said.
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said.
A comprehensive domestic violence center is being established by the Caddo Parish sheriff, which the mayor’s office is working to support, Arceneaux later told Reuters.
At a news conference, Louisiana state Senator Sam Jenkins, whose district includes much of Shreveport, said the shooting underscores the need for more resources to combat domestic violence.
“If we have someone with a history of domestic violence, let’s make sure that those resources, that intervention is there on a continuous and consistent basis, hopefully to avoid what we’ve seen here today,” Jenkins said.
Reuters was unable to immediately determine whether Elkins had such a history.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Shreveport native, on social media called the shooting a “heartbreaking tragedy.” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on social media that he and his wife were “praying for everyone affected.”
Not including Sunday’s incident in Shreveport, the Gun Violence Archive lists at least 119 mass shootings in the United States this year, resulting in 117 deaths, including 79 children, and 458 people injured.
The archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people, not including the shooter, are injured or killed by gunfire. The United States had 407 mass shootings last year, according to archive data.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas, David Ljunggren, Tim McLaughlin and Jeffrey Dastin; Editing by Will Dunham and Sergio Non)
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