Eight children were shot to death in Shreveport early Sunday morning in the biggest mass murder in the U.S. in more than two years.
Shreveport Police spokesman Christopher Bordelon told a news briefing Sunday morning that at around 6:00 a.m., officers responded to a crime scene spanning two homes on W. 79th St. and one home on Harrison St., all on the the city’s south side.
There, they found that ten people had been shot in what investigators say was a domestic disturbance.
“Eight of these individuals are deceased,” said Bordelon. “The ranges of the decedents are from one year of age to approximately 14 years of age. All of the deceased in this case are juveniles.”
Bordelon said the killer was the father of some of the victims and that he had shot them execution-style.
The two who survived the shooting rampage are adult women, one of whom was romantically involved with the killer, according to Bordelon.
Bordelon says the shooter then fled the scene by carjacking someone at 79th St. and Lynwood Ave.
“Shreveport Police patrol officers got behind that vehicle, and they chased it,” Bordelon said. “The vehicle was chased into Bossier Parish, and at which point in time Shreveport Police officers did discharge their firearms, and that individual is deceased.”
No police officers were hurt during the pursuit or the shooting.
According to a database on mass shootings in the U.S., this is the deadliest mass shooting since eight were killed in a suburb of Chicago in January of 2024.
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” said Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux. “It’s a terrible morning in Shreveport, and we all mourn the victims.”
The scene has shaken the entire community to the core.
“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” said Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith. “I just cannot again imagine how such an event can occur.”
As of early Sunday afternoon, the names of the killer and his victims have not been released.
Chief Smith says the investigation is in the very early stages.
“We’re going to be working diligently, however long it takes, get to the answers to what has taken place,” says Smith.
Louisiana State Police are investigating the officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of the suspected killer.
Elected officials have started weighing in on the tragedy.
“I am deeply saddened by the senseless loss of life,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement posted onto social media. “I’m praying for the victims and their family members in the wake of this devastating violence.”
“I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the eight innocent children whose lives were cut tragically short in the Cedar Grove neighborhood this morning,” said Congressman Cleo Fields, whose district includes the location of the mass shooting. “I am also praying for the two women who were injured – one of whom remains in critical condition – and I ask that all of Louisiana join me in lifting them up.
“What occurred in today’s early morning hours is, as Mayor Arceneaux said, perhaps one of the worst tragedies this city has ever seen. A crime scene spanning four locations, eight children gone ranging in age from just one to fourteen years old – there are no words.”