Shocking Reason Why Shamar Elkins 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 His 8 Children, Wife, & Ex-Wife in one Night

As of the most recent confirmed reporting, both Christina Snow and Shinequa Pugh are expected to survive. Shinequa sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the face and stomach and has undergone multiple surgeries, according to her aunt’s account to the New York Times.

The Shreveport police dispatch log confirms officers did not receive the call from Harrison Street until 6:07 a.m., over an hour after the first call from West 79th Street. Dispatch linked both locations at 6:10 a.m. At 6:20, officers received information that Christina’s three children might be inside the carjacked vehicle. At 6:40, officers confirmed the vehicle was empty. The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed all eight children were killed at the West 79th Street address, including Christina’s three. The precise sequence of events between the two locations remains part of the active investigation.

Why Elkins went to Harrison Street first—whether driven by the affair, the divorce, or something specific that occurred that night—has not been formally established by investigators.

Saturday afternoon, April 18, less than 12 hours before the first call to dispatch, Freddy Montgomery, a neighbor across the street, walked past and saw Elkins sitting on his front porch watching the children play in the yard. The two men waved at each other. Montgomery told CNN there was nothing in that moment that suggested anything was wrong.

That same evening, Elkins took his eldest daughter to dinner, just the two of them. He posted about it on social media with laughing emojis. The night before he killed her siblings, he was photographed smiling over a burger with his child.

At 9:00 p.m., Troy Brown left for his night shift. He told the AP that Elkins was calm, joking around as Brown moved his car out of the driveway to let him leave. Brown’s nephew, Markaden Pugh, age 10, cousin to Elkins’s biological children, was alive inside the house when Brown drove away. Markaden did not survive the night. Brown’s wife survived by jumping from the roof. His 12-year-old daughter jumped alongside her with scratches. His nephew was found dead inside the home.

The divorce papers were ready. The court date was the next morning. The 2023 threat—that if Shinequa ever left, he would kill everyone—was about to become legally irrelevant because the marriage was ending with or without his consent.

Behavioral research on familicide consistently documents that perpetrators in these cases rarely act impulsively. The violence is planned. The perpetrator typically presents as calm in the hours before, sometimes unusually so. The trigger is not sudden rage. It is the perception of losing control: a court date, a finalization, a point of no return. Every element of that pattern was present on the night of April 18.

The hours between 9:00 p.m. and 5:55 a.m. are not fully documented in any public source. What is confirmed is where he went when those hours ended.

5:55 a.m. – Shreveport police received the first call: a disturbance at the 300 block of West 79th Street. “The caller is on the roof, the suspect is inside, someone has been shot.”

6:00 a.m. – She and her children have escaped from the roof and are in the backyard.

6:01 a.m. – Officers arrive on scene.

The caller was Kosha Pugh, Shinequa’s sister, who lived in that house. She and her 12-year-old daughter both jumped from the roof. Both sustained broken bones. Both survived. Kosha made those calls while the attack was still happening inside the home below her.

Police spokesperson Chris Bordelon confirmed that most of the children appeared to have been shot in their sleep. Most were shot in the head. Seven of the eight were found inside the home. The eighth was found dead on the back roof. Bullet holes were recovered from the rear door—evidence that at least some of the children had tried to escape through the back of the house and didn’t make it out.

On how those final moments unfolded, a claim was made on social media by an account identified as belonging to Michael Mayance, described as a former Army mentor of Elkins, stating that Elkins arrived at his home, they spoke briefly, and Elkins then shot himself. That post was subsequently deleted. The Shreveport Bossier Advocate confirmed the claim exists but noted the post was removed. Louisiana State Police spokesperson Eddie Thomas confirmed the investigation will not be rushed and that results will be delivered to the Caddo District Attorney’s Office. Whether Elkins died from a self-inflicted wound or from officer gunfire remains officially under investigation.

7:03 a.m. – Shamar Elkins was pronounced dead at the scene.

The eight children, confirmed by the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office: Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Braylin Snow, 5; Caleb Pugh, 6; Kadarian Snow, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaden Pugh, 10; Serayah Snow, 11. Five girls, three boys. All killed at West 79th Street before the city finished waking up.

Step back from the timeline and look at the complete picture. A 2019 weapons conviction on file that legally barred Elkins from firearms until 2029. A January 2026 VA hospitalization following a confirmed suicide attempt. A divorce proceeding with a court date the following morning. A 2023 death threat against his wife and children that was never reported to any authority. A brother-in-law living in the same house who watched the deterioration and asked directly whether Elkins needed to return to the hospital.

Five data points spread across law enforcement records, the VA system, the court system, and private family knowledge. Never connected. Never assembled into a single risk picture. Never acted on before April 19.

Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said at his Monday press conference that the violence stemmed from a domestic dispute and added that “the chances were good this was not the first time,” implying prior incidents that went unreported or undocumented.

As of April 23, 2026, four investigations remain open: the ATF full firearms procurement inquiry; the federal prosecution of Charles Ford; the Louisiana State Police officer-involved shooting investigation; and the Shreveport Police Department’s active motive investigation. None have produced final public findings.

The Louisiana Governor’s Love One Louisiana Foundation has covered all funeral costs for the eight children. The Community Foundation of North Louisiana has launched dedicated survivor funds. Both women remain in recovery.

The systemic questions this case forces are specific. Should a VA discharge for a veteran with an active firearms prohibition and a contested divorce trigger automatic cross-agency notification? Should a domestic violence lethality screening be mandatory when a divorce is filed against someone with a prior weapons conviction? What would it take to connect those systems in real time?

Those are policy questions. They are also the questions that eight families in Shreveport are now living inside permanently.