We’re getting updated information on yesterday’s tragedy in Shreveport, in which eight children were shot dead in the country’s worst mass murder in more than two years. Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith told a news conference late this morning that the two women who were injured during the shooting spree are both still alive, including the wife of the shooter, 31-year-old Shamar Elkins.
“One that was shot multiple times is a lot more critical than the other one, but both are still at the hospital in recovery,” Smith said.
The wife was shot in one house. In the other house, as Elkins was shooting the kids inside, Smith says a woman climbed onto the roof with two children in an attempt to escape.
“There was a child and an adult, both that jumped off the roof, and they are both in stable condition,” Smith explained.
The other child did not make it off the roof and was shot dead. Smith says while Elkins was the father of all eight victims; the children were split between the two women.
“I don’t know exactly which children belonged to which mother at this time. But both mothers had children whose lives were taken,” Smith said.
The women identified their children to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office (CPCO). Smith says it appears that while one of the women Elkins shot was his wife, he was still carrying on a relationship with the other woman, who was the mother of his other children.
“It is our understanding at this point and still, nonetheless, more information yet to be confirmed, that there was, or still was, a relationship between him and both parties,” Smith noted.