A man fatally shot eight children, seven of them his own, across three Shreveport, Louisiana, homes early on Sunday (Monday morning AEDT), according to police.
It marks the nation's deadliest mass shooting since January 2024.
The children killed were three boys and five girls ranging in age from three to 11, the Caddo Parish Coroner's office told CNN.
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They included seven siblings and a cousin, the coroner's office said. Police said earlier the ages ranged from one to 14.
The coroner identified the victims as Jayla Elkins, three; Shayla Elkins, five; Kayla Pugh, six; Layla Pugh, seven; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, six; and Braylon Snow, five.
Shreveport Police Cpl. Chris Bordelon identified the gunman as Shamar Elkins, and told CNN affiliate KSLA the shootings were "domestic in nature".
Elkins was 31, according to previous police reports.
A 13-year-old boy was injured after fleeing from a home and jumping from the roof, Bordelon told KSLA.
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He sustained a "few broken bones" but is expected to recover, he said.
Some children tried to escape out the back door during the shooting, said state Rep. Tammy Phelps during a news conference Sunday afternoon with other city officials.
Two adult women were also shot in Sunday's attack, Bordelon told KSLA.
Elkins' wife, the mother of his children, was shot first and had "very serious injuries".
Then Elkins went to a separate residence where he shot the eight children and another woman.
The other woman, who was the mother of the eighth child killed, has "life threatening injuries," he added.
Elkins was arrested in 2019 on a firearms case, according to a police report, after a man in a car pulled a gun on him.
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Elkins fired five rounds at the vehicle in retaliation while next to a school.
He also served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years until August 2020, according to the US Army. He was not deployed.
The gunman was fatally shot by officers after carjacking a vehicle and leading police on a chase into the next parish, Bordelon said.
The Louisiana State Police are investigating the officer-involved shooting.
"It rattles the entire city," Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said. "It affects us all."
There have been at least 114 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which like CNN defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.
Shreveport, which is about 250 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, has about 180,000 residents.
More than 30 per cent of the murders in the city are domestic in nature, said city councilman Grayson Boucher.
A 'horrific scene'
Police responded to reports of shots fired in the Cedar Grove community of Shreveport just after 6am CT and found victims in two homes along West 79th Street and a third home on Harrison Street, Bordelon said.
"This is a very large scene with multiple deceased children present," Bordelon said.
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Arceneaux said the scene was "horrific."
The shootings mark the eighth through 15th homicides for Shreveport and Caddo Parish this year, according to the coroner's office.
A neighbour's security camera captured video showing the gunman fleeing toward a tire shop, according to The Associated Press.
"That's' pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house," Liza Demming, who lives two doors down from one of the shooting locations, said.
Demming said she didn't know the shooter's name but that she had seen him with the children a few days before.
She said later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home's roof.
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Tragedy reaches 'far beyond'
City councilwoman Tabatha H. Taylor broke down in tears when speaking of the events late on Sunday.
"I'm going to ask the community, along with prayer, with every mental health consultant, counsellor, that is out here: This family and this community needs you," she said.
"I need you. Because how do we get through this?"
Arceneaux called it a "tragic situation" and said it was maybe the "worst" in Shreveport history.
"My heart is just taken aback. I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur," Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.
"I just don't know what to say."
US House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents the Shreveport area in Congress, called the killings "heartbreaking."
"We're holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time," Johnson said.
Superintendent Keith Burton of Shreveport's Caddo Parish Public Schools said the community "must take care of our children, support our families, and stand beside our educators and first responders who are carrying the weight of this moment."
Arceneaux said the tragedy reaches "far beyond the scene itself".
"These are the kinds of moments that leave a lasting imprint — on our hearts, on our minds, and on our sense of safety," the mayor said.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)
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