Shreveport: In yet another incident of mass shooting in America, a former soldier killed eight children, aged between one and 12:years, in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Sunday morning (local time). Seven of the children were his own.
The accused, Shamar Elkins (31), was shot dead by the police after a chase. The motive behind the gruesome massacre is still unknown.
Authorities said that Elkins drove to three separate homes, walked through the doors and shot dead the children.
Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years. He left in August 2020 without ever being deployed, the US Army said.
He had been arrested for a shooting incident in March 2019. He had then fired five rounds at a moving vehicle from just 300 feet away from a Shreveport high school. He had fired directly in the school’s direction.
In October that year, he had pleaded guilty to the weapons charge and was placed on 18 months’ probation. The firearm charge was dismissed.
Sunday’s shooting highlights the deteriorating mental health conditions in the US. Elkins had recently shared a photograph of himself posed alongside seven children on Facebook. “Happy Easter had a wonderful time at church for the first time with all my kids what a blessed day -sic],” he wrote beneath it.
On Saturday evening, hours before the killings, Elkins posted a photograph of his eldest daughter at a restaurant. “Lol!!!! Took my oldest on a lil 1 on 1 date had to catch her down bad ugh ugh [sic],” the caption read, followed by a string of laughing emojis, as reported by Mint.
However, it was clear that the Army veteran was going through a disturbed phase. On April 9, he had posted what read as a prayer or a plea.
“Dear God, Today I ask You to help me guard my mind and my emotions,” the post read. “When negativity arises, remind me to say, ‘It does not belong to me, in the name of Jesus.’ 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 victims were found across two homes on West 79th Street and a third on Harrison Street, Shreveport Police Corporal Chris Bordelon confirmed.
A 13-year-old boy survived after leaping from a rooftop to escape, sustaining several broken bones. Two adult women were also shot – one of them the mother of Elkins’ children, who suffered very serious injuries; the other, the mother of the eighth child killed, remained in a life-threatening condition.
“This is a very large scene with multiple deceased children present,” Bordelon said.
Elkins carjacked a vehicle after the shootings and led police on a chase into the neighbouring Bossier Parish, where officers fatally shot him. The Louisiana State Police are investigating the officer-involved shooting. No officers were injured.
“We are still working to determine a complete motive and understanding as to why this happened, but it is domestic in nature,” Bordelon told CNN affiliate KSLA.
