The early morning quiet of a Shreveport neighbourhood was shattered this past Sunday by a series of events so harrowing they have left a community in total disbelief. As investigators pick through the remains of three separate crime scenes, a disturbing picture is emerging of a local veteran whose final hours were marked by a jarring contradiction.
While a city begins to mourn an unthinkable loss, the mystery remains as to what could have pushed a seemingly devoted father to the brink of such devastation.
Shreveport was still cloaked in the early morning shadows when a man visited three different houses to carry out the fatal shooting of eight children. Among the victims were seven of his own offspring, with the ages of the deceased ranging from a child not yet two years old to a twelve-year-old.
As day broke, the man responsible—identified by officers as 31-year-old Army veteranShamar Elkins—had also lost his life. Police caught up with him after a pursuit into a nearby parish, where the chase ended in a fatal shooting.
Records from the US Army show that Elkins spent seven years with the Louisiana Army National Guard. He eventually moved on from his service in August 2020, having never been sent on an overseas deployment.
Three years on from his military service, in March 2019, Elkins faced arrest for firing five shots at a moving car from a spot only 300 feet from a Shreveport high school—with the bullets headed straight toward the campus. By that October, he admitted guilt to the illegal use of weapons and received 18 months of probation, while the count for having a gun on school grounds was dropped.
Looking at his public history, there were no obvious warning signs of the tragedy that was to come. Only recently, Elkins had uploaded aphototoFacebookwhere he was surrounded by seven children. In the comments, he spoke about the joy of taking all his kids to church for the first time, calling the experience a true blessing.
Just two weeks after that, on the Saturday night before the violence began, Elkins put up a photo of his firstborn daughter while they were out at a restaurant. He joked in the caption about taking her on a one-on-one date and catching her off guard, adding several laughing emojis. However, his tone was different earlier this month; on April 9, he shared a message that sounded like a desperate prayer or cry for help.
'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 recognise what is not from You and the strength to reject it immediately in the name of JESUS.'
Corporal Chris Bordelon of the Shreveport Police Department verified that his team arrived at the Cedar Grove area just after 6 a.m. local time following reports of shots being fired. Upon arrival, the attending officers discovered victims at two separate properties on West 79th Street and another site over on Harrison Street.
Source: International Business Times UK
