Motive sought in fatal shooting of 8 children in Louisiana as police give timeline of massacre
As an investigation continued into the motive of Sunday's fatal shootings of eight children in Shreveport, Louisiana, allegedly by the father of seven of the victims, police officials released a timeline detailing the 68-minute massacre.
"April 19 ... will be written in the pages of history as one of the worst days that could have ever happened here in Shreveport," Chief Wayne Smith of the Shreveport Police Department said at a news conference on Monday.
Smith said the suspect, Shamar Elkins, a former member of the Louisiana Army National Guard, allegedly used an assault-style pistol to kill seven of his children and an eighth child related to him. A teenage boy was also injured when he jumped off the roof of a house to escape the shooting, police said.
While Elkins died after police opened fire on him following a car chase, Smith said it remains unclear whether he was shot to death or died by suicide.
Smith said domestic violence is believed to be the primary motive behind the killings. The chief said two women, including the mother of seven of the children who were killed, were wounded in the incident and remain hospitalized.
He said investigators are probing five different crime scenes connected to the shootings.
Police said the children killed, siblings and one cousin, ranged in age from 3 to 11. The victims, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office, were identified by their mothers as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced on Monday that the Love One Louisiana Foundation, a nonprofit founded by his wife, Sharon, will pay all expenses for the children's funerals, according to ABC affiliate station KTSB.
"Both she and I recognize no amount of money or act of charity can repair the pain, but [what] we can lean on is that this act of charity can stand as a beacon of faith and belief that good things still happen in this world," Gov. Landry said during a visit to Shreveport.
Timeline of the deadly rampage
During Monday's press conference, Smith went over a timeline of the deadly attacks that occurred before sunrise on Sunday:
5:55 a.m. -- Shreveport Police received the first call regarding a disturbance at a residence on W. 79th Street in the Ceder Grove neighborhood of South Shreveport. The caller stated that they were on top of the house while the suspect was inside, and a male had been shot.
5:58 a.m. -- A police dispatcher received an additional call from the same 911 caller, indicating the suspect was a relative of the caller.
5:59 a.m. -- A dispatcher was advised by the caller that approximately nine individuals resided at the W. 79th Street location. The caller stated that the suspect, Elkins, had shot everyone inside the home.
6 a.m. -- The caller advised the dispatcher that she and her children fled the W. 79th Street house onto the roof and that they were in the backyard.
6:01 a.m. -- Shreveport officers arrived at the W. 79th Street residence.
6:03 a.m. -- Officers made contact with the 911 caller at the W. 79th Street residence.
6:05 a.m. -- Officers requested the Shreveport Fire Department stage at a location near the W. 79th Street home, close to Linwood Avenue.
6:07 a.m. -- A second 911 caller reported a shooting at a home on Harrison Street in Shreveport. The caller stated that her boyfriend shot her and fled the scene with her three children.
6:08 a.m.-- The second caller identified the suspect who shot her and took her children as Elkins.
6:10 a.m. -- A police dispatcher links the Harrison Street shooting with the shooting on W. 79th Street and determines that they were related.
6:15 a.m. -- Officers received information that the suspect had carjacked a red Kia Sportage at W. 79th Street near Linwood Avenue.
6:17 a.m. -- Shreveport police traffic units out on random patrol observed the carjacked Kia heading southbound on Interstate 49.
6:18 a.m. -- Officer radioed in that they were chasing the stolen car over a bridge crossing the Red River into Bossier City.
6:20 a.m. -- Officers involved in the chase reported that the children taken from the Harrison Street residence may be inside the fleeing vehicle.
6:23 a.m. -- Officers advised dispatch that they were exiting the interstate near the Swan Lake area of Bossier City.
6:25 a.m. -- Officers back in Shreveport find the victim injured in the Harrison Street shooting.
6:29 a.m. -- Officers report and exchange of gunfire with the suspect on Brompton Lane in Bossier City.
6:40 a.m. -- Police officers advised a dispatcher that the suspect vehicle was empty and no children were located inside. Chief Smith did not say during Monday's news conference what happened to the children taken from the Harrison Street residence.
6:43 a.m. -- Officers in Shreveport cleared the W. 79th Street home and found multiple deceased victims.
7:03 a.m. -- The suspect, Elkins, is pronounced dead at the scene on Brompton Lane in Bossier City.
