Eight children are killed in the biggest massacre in the US in two years

According to a database maintained by the Associated Press agency and the USA Today newspaper in partnership with Northeastern University, this was the largest massacre in the United States since eight people were killed in an incident in Chicago in January 2024.

According to the EFE agency, local police classified the incident as a “domestic dispute”. In total, ten people were shot. The only survivors are two women, one of them with serious injuries that put her life at risk, according to local press.

Police spokesman Christopher Bordelon said the suspect was killed during a police chase after fleeing the scene in a stolen car.

“We believe he is the only individual who fired shots,” Bordelon said. The crime scene is “extensive” and covers three residences in the Cedar Grove neighborhood, in Shreveport, specified the spokesperson, who warned that the investigation is in its initial phase and that all information is preliminary.

A few hours after the first information was released, police reported that the gunman was named Shamar Elkins and was the father of seven of the dead children, and that one of the women shot was the mother of some of the children, according to the Associated Press.

“This is a tragic situation, perhaps the most tragic we’ve ever experienced. It’s a terrible morning,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city of about 180,000 people in northwest Louisiana.

Louisiana governor, Republican Jeff Landry, said in a statement that he and his wife were “devastated” by this tragedy. “We are deeply grateful to the police officers and first responders who worked tirelessly at the scene,” he said.