Louisiana mass shooting: Eight children killed
Updated ,first published
Washington: In the US state of Louisiana, eight children were killed in a mass shooting that occurred in multiple homes and was described by police as a “domestic disturbance”.
The horrific crime spree occurred in Shreveport, a city in northwestern Louisiana near the Texas border. The gunman then stole a car and died following a police pursuit.
At a news conference outside a home, people audibly gasped and shrieked as police spokesman Chris Bordelon announced that 10 people in total had been shot and that the eight dead were aged between 1 and 14.
“All those who died in this case are young people,” he said. “We know some of the kids inside are his descendants.”
Police were called to a home on West 79th Street in Shreveport around 6 a.m. Sunday (US time), which was described as a crime scene related to a domestic dispute, Bordelon said. He said the crime spree was determined to include two residences on that street and another residence nearby.
He added that gunshots were heard from all three locations and that there was no doubt that the three crime scenes were connected.
The perpetrator hijacked a vehicle and was followed by police to a neighboring neighborhood, Bordelon said. They fired their weapons and the suspect was killed, but the exact circumstances of his death were still unclear.
Police have not yet identified the suspect or the victims, but have confirmed that he is an adult male and the father of some of the dead children.
Bordelon said he had never seen a crime like this in his police career.
The Associated Press reported that it was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since eight people were killed in Chicago in early 2024, according to a database it maintains jointly. USA Today and Northeastern University.
Mayor Tom Arceneaux said it was “a tragic situation, perhaps the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport.”
“It’s a terrible morning… we all mourn with the victims,” he said.
With a population of approximately 180,000, the city on the Red River is Louisiana’s third largest city, after New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
More to come
Get notes directly from our foreign correspondents on events making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
