8 children between the ages of 1 and 14 are dead after a mass shooting in Louisiana, police say
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A Louisiana gunman killed eight children and shot two more people in an early morning domestic violence rampage at two homes Sunday that shook a Shreveport neighborhood in one of the deadliest parts of the country, authorities said. more than two years of mass shootings.
Shreveport Police Department spokesman Chris Bordelon said the suspect died after a police pursuit and that the victims, ages 1 to 14, included children related to the gunman. Investigators have not said what may have triggered the attack.
“This is a sweeping scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” Bordelon said.
Bordelon said officers opened fire on the suspect during a chase after he hijacked a vehicle at gunpoint.
Police said the attacks began before dawn in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport, when the suspect shot a woman at a home and went to another location “where this heinous act was committed.”
Bordelon said seven children were killed in the second house, and one child was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape.
State Representative Tammy Phelps said some children tried to escape through the back door. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, the first responders, were actually dealing with when they came here today,” he said at a news conference.
Authorities did not release the name of the gunman but said he was an adult male.
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 as two gunshots rang out.
“That’s pretty much all I saw; him running out of the house and cars coming out,” he said.
When Demming went outside later, he saw a child’s body covered in the roof of the house. He said he did not know the name of the attacker.
“He looks like the father who came here,” he said, adding that he was with the children a few days ago.
Nearby St. Louis, who owns one of the homes where the shootings occurred. Marty T. Johnson Sr., pastor of Gabriel Congregational Baptist Church, said a person who worked for him rented the home to the family but had no relationship with them.
“I don’t really know them, I really don’t,” he said. “I plan to hold a prayer vigil for the family, and with so many children, I will do anything I can to help them bury the children.”
The Caddo County Coroner’s Office released a statement Sunday saying that any of the children’s names have not yet been released, pending the identification of the victims.
Police said that the two women who were shot were treated for serious injuries.
“The incident, which started as a domestic dispute, resulted in irreversible damage,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Shreveport is overwhelmed with grief
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024. a database It is maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
At a press conference held in front of the residence where one of the shootings occurred, authorities were stunned and asked for the public’s patience and prayers as they sorted through numerous crime scenes.
“I don’t know what to say, my heart is stunned,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I can’t even imagine how something like this could happen.”
“This is a tragic situation; maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city of about 180,000 in northwestern Louisiana. “It’s a terrible morning.”
Louisiana State Police said Shreveport police asked their detectives to investigate. No officers were harmed in an officer-involved shooting following a police chase in Bossier City Sunday morning, state police said in a statement.
State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share them with state police detectives.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and US House Speaker Mike Johnsonof Shreveport, said in separate statements that they were heartbroken and praised law enforcement for their response.
“We are keeping the victims, their families, their loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” Johnson said in a statement.
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This story has been corrected to attribute statements about the shooting to police spokesman Chris Bordelon, not Police Chief Wayne Smith.
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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz in New York, Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed.
