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Relatives, classmates and community members are reeling after eight children were killed in northwest Louisiana in the nation's deadliest mass shooting since January 2024.
Family and others who knew the victims said they regularly attended church, excelled in school, and appeared to be doing well prior to the horrific April 19 morning attack in the neighborhood where they lived in Shreveport, a city less than 20 miles east of the Texas state line.
“I really can’t believe it. (They) are a gospel, church-going family. A singing family," Francine Monro Brown, the victims' cousin told USA TODAY on April 20.
Shreveport police said Shamar Elkins opened fire, killing seven of his own children and injuring his wife and another woman. The coroner's office identified the juveniles killed in the shooting 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.
