(The Center Square) – Roadways are busy with commuters while kids hop on and off school buses but the start of this work week is like no other in Shreveport.
Communities, schools and concerned people are grieving and broken after a profound mass shooting tragedy shattered a quiet Sunday morning in the city’s blue collar Cedar Grove neighborhood. Eight young children were shot to death by suspect Shamar Elkins, father to seven of the kids. The eighth child was a family member.
Caddo Parish Commissioner Stormy Gage-Watts asked for resources in the form of trained trauma professionals available to the community from a mobile command center.
“Prayer is not the only thing this family needs,” she said during Monday’s Commission work session. “They need love and they need respect.”
Commissioner Steffon Jones said, “I am at a loss for words. I don’t want my constituency and the family to think I have nothing to say. It’s just been really difficult to navigate through this. Cedar Grove is our home, where we live.”
Jones’ district includes Cedar Grove, an area he grew up in.
The children were found around 6 a.m. Sunday on the 300 block of West 79th Street. The crime scene investigation involves four locations, including Bossier City where Elkins died.
It’s unclear if he was killed by law enforcment or died by suicide.
Elkins shot two women who were seriously injured but survived; both were in relationships with Elkins and shared children with him. They were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
“I found it difficult to go to work this morning but I am glad I did because the children at the school helped me get through the day, they just wouldn’t let me remain sad,” Jones said. “So I want to thank my students for helping me wipe my tears this morning.”
Gov. Jeff Landry visited Shreveport on Monday to address the community and announce that The Love One Louisiana Foundation will pay for the children’s funerals.
“I am tired y’all,” Jones said. “Seems like every year I’ve got another story that I sit in front of this board talking about. Just this time last year, I was talking about two women who were killed by their estranged husbands. I am tired and I don’t know what to do.”
The children killed were 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.
“Wake up. We have real work to do,” Jones said.
Elkins has a 2019 conviction for illegal use of a weapon from a confrontation with another man that occurred near a school. His claims of self-defense could not be disproved, according to the Caddo Parish district attorney’s office. Elkins received probation for that shooting incident.
According to Shreveport police, the department responded to nearly 3,000 calls related to domestic violence in 2025. Last year, more than 20% of the city’s 42 homicides were coded domestic violence.
Shreveport has 17 homicides this year, including the eight from Sunday and two more Monday evening. The latest escalated from an argument between two men into a shooting that caused their deaths.
