\n<\/p>\n
Shamar Elkins and his future wife, Shaneika Pugh, sat on a couch in Shreveport, La., three years ago while their daughters played outside.<\/p>\n
Betty Walker \u2013 the woman who raised Mr. Elkins as her own son, although she was not his biological mother \u2013 was also there, and could tell there was friction between the couple.<\/p>\n
Ms. Pugh said that evening that she was considering leaving Mr. Elkins and taking her children with her, Ms. Walker recalled in an interview.<\/p>\n
Mr. Elkins was angry, Ms. Walker said. He looked at Ms. Pugh and declared that if she tried to leave, “I will kill you, my children, and myself.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cDon’t think that way,\u201d Ms. Walker remembered as she stopped cooking and peeked into the living room. Ms. Pugh tried to reassure him that he was “just playing.”<\/p>\n
“Okay, don’t play like that,” Ms. Walker replied.<\/p>\n
On Monday, she was replaying the scene in her mind, trying to understand how Mr. Elkins could have grabbed a pistol on Sunday morning and, in the span of about 15 minutes, carried out the chilling rampage that authorities said left eight children dead, including seven of her own. Two women were also injured, including his wife.<\/p>\n
Mr Elkins, 31, was shot dead by police after a pursuit. Ms. Pugh remained in critical condition on Monday, and her aunt said she was still undergoing surgery after being shot multiple times in the face and stomach. Police said the second injured woman was in a relationship with Mr Elkins.<\/p>\n
A child and an adult escaped the shooting by jumping from a roof, officials said.<\/p>\n
Officials said Monday that the victims were three boys and five girls aged 3 to 11 years. They were identified by the Caddo Parish coroner as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markedon Pugh, 10; Sariyah Snow, 11; Khedrian Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Shreveport, a small town in northwest Louisiana, is shocked by the murder of an entire family. The clergy tried to console a community steeped in disbelief and overwhelmed with despair. Residents near where the shooting occurred released plush animals and balloons. At a news conference on Monday, officials struggled to describe the magnitude of the violence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“This will go down in history as one of the worst days ever,” said Chief Wayne Smith in Shreveport. Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry L. Whitehorn described it as “one of the most heartbreaking tragedies we have ever seen”.<\/p>\n
The city and parish, the equivalent of a county in Louisiana, have both seen a recent increase in domestic violence cases. Last week, the Sheriff’s Office opened a new domestic violence unit where victims can seek help and legal assistance. Sheriff Whitehorn said, “I don’t believe any of us imagined that just a few days later our community would be shaken.”<\/p>\n
The investigation is still ongoing, and authorities have not attempted to explain why Mr. Elkins decided to kill the children. But Chief Smith said the shooting “occurred as a domestic dispute” and domestic violence typically escalates over time.<\/p>\n
In interviews with The New York Times, Mr. Elkins’ relatives, including his biological mother, Mahalia Elkins, and his stepfather, Marcus Jackson, said he had mental health problems and had recently expressed suicidal thoughts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In an interview on Monday, Ms. Walker offered a more detailed account of Mr. Elkins’s worsening mental condition.<\/p>\n
In hindsight, the incident on the sofa may have been a warning sign of the danger Mr. Elkins posed to his family. But Ms Walker said she took his words at the time as overly masculine arrogance, said without much thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought \u2014 and no one ever told me \u2014 that he would kill himself and kill these children,\u201d Ms. Walker said, her voice hoarse after spending a restless night in tears.<\/p>\n
He said Mr Elkins had tried to take his own life in February. She visited him in a hospital, where he refused to discuss what had happened. His wife was near his bed.<\/p>\n
After that, Mr. Elkins, who served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020, took medication and attended counseling at a nearby Veterans Affairs hospital. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ms Walker said she was not sure how many times he went to counselling. She knew of no protective order against him. He said that Mr. Elkins and Ms. Pugh had previously accused each other of infidelity, and that much of the tension in their relationship was related to financial struggles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Over Easter this month, Mr. Elkins, who works at UPS, told his mother and stepfather that his wife wanted a divorce, and that he was having “dark thoughts” and was suicidal. His stepfather tried to reassure him, but Mr. Elkins replied: “Some people don’t come back from their demons.”<\/p>\n
Records show Mr. Elkins has at least two prior convictions, including convictions for driving under the influence in 2016 and unlawful use of a weapon in 2019.<\/p>\n
In a police description of the March 2019 incident, an officer wrote that Mr. Elkins had pulled a 9-millimeter handgun from his waistband and fired five times at a vehicle after the driver of the car pulled a silver handgun on him. One of the bullets that shot Mr. Elkins was found near a school where children were playing outside. Ms Walker said the incident occurred when a man tried to take Mr Elkins’ marijuana and run away with it, prompting her to open fire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ms Walker said her son had few friends.<\/p>\n
Some neighbors of the family said they had no idea anything was wrong.<\/p>\n
Freddie Montgomery, 72, who lives across the street from where the shooting began, said the Elkins and Pugh families were new to the neighborhood. His brief interactions with him were routine, he said: children played in the yard, and he occasionally waved to Mr. Elkins.<\/p>\n
“It completely took everyone by surprise,” Mr Montgomery said.<\/p>\n
This trauma was especially evident in the schools where the victims studied.<\/p>\n
Caddo Parish Public Schools Superintendent Keith Burton said at a news conference that he saw a classmate of one of the victims, a kindergartner, walking quietly down a hall, placing her head on a counselor’s shoulder and crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a reality in 2026 that school districts must be prepared for active shooters \u2013 it is just a reality,\u201d Mr. Burton said. “Unfortunately, we are never prepared when one of those active shooters is a family member, and it happens outside that child’s home.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ms Walker described her grandchildren as “angels”. They used to play in the nearby park. When they returned from playing, they would ask, “Grandma, what are you making?” They expected it to be their favorites: soul foods like beans and rice, fried chicken. Sometimes, tacos.<\/p>\n
His memories keep flickering between images of him and his father. She has spent hours since Sunday crying, remembering the devastation she caused.<\/p>\n
Some of the images were so painful they were difficult to imagine, she said, such as Mr. Elkins playing basketball with his daughters.<\/p>\n