THE DARKEST EASTER AFTERMATH: The “Model Father” and the Rooftop Secret

SHREVEPORT, LA — The white picket fence on West 79th Street used to symbolize a bustling, growing family. Today, it stands as a silent witness to an event so harrowing that even veteran investigators are being offered immediate trauma counseling.

What was supposed to be a routine Monday morning in court for a final separation agreement turned into a permanent erasure of a legacy. Shamar Elkins, a man who spent years crafting an online persona of a devoted, faith-driven patriarch, has left the community grappling with a terrifying question: How did the “Sunday Service” father become the architect of such absolute silence?

The “Rooftop” Discovery: A Moment of Pure Desperation

The most chilling detail emerged late Sunday evening. While securing the perimeter, authorities looked up to find one of the young souls had reached the highest point of the house. In a final, frantic attempt to escape the metal shadow of his father’s grip, the child had sought refuge on the shingles.

He didn’t make it. But his brother, a 13-year-old whose name is being withheld, performed a “leap of faith” that saved his life. Jumping from that same height, he managed to evade the “hunt” and is now the only voice left to tell the story of what happened inside those walls.

The Digital Mask vs. The Dark Reality

Only fourteen days ago, Elkins’ social media was a sea of “likes.” Photos of his seven biological children dressed in their Easter best, smiling under the Louisiana sun, painted a picture of domestic bliss.

However, investigators have now seized a series of “Final Messages” sent just hours before the 4:00 AM incident. These texts, described by sources as “calm but chilling,” suggest that the upcoming legal hearing on Monday was the ultimate trigger. It appears Elkins viewed the loss of control over his “kingdom” as a reason to dismantle it entirely.

The Mystery of the Eighth Angel

A significant twist in the investigation is the identity of the eighth young victim. While seven were Elkins’ own, the eighth belonged to a second household. The “trail of tears” spanned three different locations, suggesting this wasn’t a sudden “snap,” but a calculated tactical movement across the city to settle “debts of the heart.”

A City in Mourning

As two mothers remain in critical condition—clinging to life in a local ICU—the city of Shreveport has turned the street into a sea of plush toys and candles. The 13-year-old survivor remains under heavy guard, carrying the weight of a tragedy that defied every safety net designed to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

The investigation into the “Veteran Shadow”—referencing Elkins’ past service and prior 2019 legal brushes—continues. The question remains: Were the warning signs there all along, hidden behind a Facebook filter?

Louisiana father kills 7 of his children plus another child in mass shooting at house, police say

A Louisiana father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, in an attack on his family Sunday morning that stretched across two houses in a Shreveport neighborhood left shaken by one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings in recent years, police said.

Two women, including the gunman’s wife, who was the mother of their children, were also shot and critically wounded, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. Officials said the children — who were all killed in the same house — ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old.

The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him, according to Bordelon. Authorities did not say what may have set off the violence, but Bordelon said detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”

The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. in more than two years.

“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”

Bordelon said police were familiar with Elkins, who had been arrested in a 2019 firearms case, but he said officials were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.

Elkins previously served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years, according to an Army official. He never deployed and left the Army as a private in 2020, the official said.

Elkins appeared to post a photo with his children on Facebook.

Shamar Elkins appeared to post a photo with his children on Facebook. The children have been cropped out of this image.

Police said the attacks began before sunrise in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport when the suspect shot a woman at one home and then drove to the other location “where this heinous act was carried out.”

Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape, Bordelon said. Another child jumped off the roof and was expected to survive after being taken to a hospital.

State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to get away through the back door. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.

Family member says suspect was separating from his wife

The victims were three boys and five girls, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office.

Shamar Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court Monday, said Crystal Brown, who is a cousin of one of the wounded women. Brown said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

“He murdered his children,” Brown said. “He shot his wife.”

Elkins shared four children with his wife and three children with another woman who lived close by and who was also shot, according to Brown. All the children were together at one house, she said.

Brown described all the children as “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet.”

Police said the children, siblings and one cousin, including three boys and five girls ranging in age from 3 to 11, were identified by their mothers as 3-year-old Jayla Elkins, 5-year-old Shayla Elkins, 6-year-old Kayla Pugh, 7-year-old Layla Pugh, 10-year-old Markaydon Pugh, 11-year-old Sariahh Snow, 6-year-old Khedarrion Snow and 5-year-old Braylon Snow.

A neighbor wakes up to a mass shooting

Liza Demming, who lives two houses down from where most of the victims were shot, said her security camera captured video of the suspect running away, along with the sound of two shots.

“That’s pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house and the cars leaving,” she said.

Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof.

Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr., of nearby St. Gabriel Community Baptist Church, who owns one of the homes where the shootings occurred, said a person who works for him had rented it to the family, but he never had dealings with them.

“What began as a domestic dispute has ended in irreversible harm,” the parish’s district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Shreveport is overwhelmed by grief

It was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.

“This is a tragic situation – maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It’s a terrible morning.”

Hours after the shooting, mourners gathered outside the single-story house on 79th Street and laid flowers. One door appeared stained with blood. Later that evening at a nearby prayer vigil, Kimberlin Jackson joined other members of the community who lit candles for the victims in a parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” she said.

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This story has been corrected to attribute the statements about the shooting to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon, not Police Chief Wayne Smith, and corrects the ages of the children killed based on updates by officials.