America is in mourning after a father killed seven of his children and an unrelated child in a mass shooting in Shreveport in the US state of Louisiana that police have described as a “domestic disturbance”.
The children were aged from one year old to 14 years old, CBS reported.
Officers said the shooting started at about 05:00 (10:00 GMT) on Sunday. The suspect shot 10 people before fleeing in a stolen car, Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said. Police then chased and killed him.
Two adult women, including the mother of the children, are in critical condition.
The suspect has been identified as Shamar Elkins, Shreveport mayor’s communications director Leigh Anne Evensky told the BBC.
The suspect shot a woman on the street before going to a nearby residence where he killed the eight children, “one of whom was not a kin to him”, according to police.
One of the victims ran to a nearby home and called authorities, police said. They said the gunman acted alone. A ninth child jumped from the roof and was in hospital, Bordelon said.
Officials have not yet given a suspected motive for the attack, but members of the family told US media that Elkins and his wife were separating.
Elkins’s brother-in-law Troy Brown, told the Washington Post that he lived with the attacker, who had been upset after his wife requested a divorce. “After the first argument about the divorce, he acted like he was losing his mind,” he told the newspaper.
Crystal Brown, a cousin of one of the wounded women, told the AP news agency that the couple had been due to appear in court on Monday.
Speaking earlier on Sunday Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said: “This is a tragic situation – maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport.
“We have hurting families, we have hurting police officers, coroners’ personnel.
“This affects the entire community, so we all mourn with these families.”
The incident is the deadliest mass shooting in the US since January 2024, when eight victims were killed in Joliet, Illinois, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a nonprofit that tracks US gun violence.
GVA defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more victims were shot, not including the suspect.
Speaking at a news conference earlier on Sunday, Bordelon said officers attended a home shortly before 06:00 local time and found the children.
“All of the deceased in this case are juveniles,” Bordelon said.
He said officers determined the call was “domestic in nature”.
Police said officers pursued him into another neighbourhood, Bossier Parish, and fired at the suspected gunman, who is now deceased.
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said his heart went out to the entire community.
“I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur,” Smith said.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he and his wife were “heartbroken over this horrific situation, and we’re praying for everyone affected”.
“We’re deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene,” Landry added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents Louisiana’s Fourth District, has also commented on the “heartbreaking tragedy”.
