Shreveport Gunman Killed Eight Children, Federal Charges Filed in Gun Probe

Federal charges filed two days after the Shreveport killings turned the investigation toward the gun itself and the chain of custody that put it in Shamar Elkins’ hands. Charles Ford, a Shreveport man, was charged in connection with the firearm used in the attack, including allegations that he was a felon in possession of the weapon and made a false statement to federal agents.

The case now sits at the intersection of mass violence and gun enforcement. Authorities say Elkins used an assault-style pistol in the early Sunday attack that left eight children dead and two adults wounded across two houses in Shreveport. The children were between 3 and 11 years old. Police also said a teenage boy escaped by jumping from a roof as gunfire tore through the homes, and investigators were examining five crime scenes tied to the shootings.

Police identified Elkins as the shooter and said he was the father of seven of the children killed. The eighth child was a relative. Investigators described the case as domestic violence, a framing that places the focus not only on the final act of killing but on the access chain that allowed a dangerous weapon to move through private hands and into a family setting already under strain. Elkins was also a former member of the Louisiana Army National Guard, a detail that has sharpened attention on the mix of personal history, firearm access and unresolved danger that preceded the bloodshed.

The shooting unfolded during a family separation, and a relative said the couple had been due in court the next day. Elkins died after a police pursuit that followed the attack, ending one of the most devastating episodes in the city’s history and leaving investigators to map the final hours before the gunfire began.

Gov. Jeff Landry said the state would help pay funeral expenses for the children through the Love One Louisiana Foundation, a move that underscored the scale of the loss in a parish where the victims’ names and ages have already become part of the public record. Police said both wounded women were expected to recover. For federal authorities, the remaining question is not only how one man carried out the attack, but how the weapon reached him in the first place.