A father fatally shot eight children, seven of whom were his own, in an attack on Sunday morning in the southern US state of Louisiana.
The attack, which according to police took place across two houses in a neighbourhood in Shreveport, was one of the country’s deadliest mass shootings in years.
Two women, including the gunman’s wife who was the mother of their children, were also shot and critically wounded, according to a Shreveport Police Department spokesperson.
Authorities said the children were all killed in the same house. Their ages ranged from three to 11 years old. They were three boys and five girls.
The gunman was identified as Shamar Elkins. He died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him, according to police. Authorities did not say what may have set off the violence but detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”
“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.”
The police spokesperson said the department were familiar with Elkins, who had been arrested in a 2019 firearms case, but officials were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.
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 the murders occured.
Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape. Another child jumped off the roof and was expected to survive after being taken to a hospital.