In the US gunman has killed 8 children, including 7 of his own

[IwantToRetire]

A man fatally shot eight children, seven of them his own, across three Shreveport, Louisiana, homes early Sunday, according to police. It marks the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since January 2024.

The children who died ranged in age from 1 to 12, Shreveport Police Cpl. Chris Bordelon told CNN.

A 13-year-old boy was injured after fleeing from a home and jumping from the roof, Bordelon told KSLA. He sustained a “few broken bones” but is expected to recover, he said.

Some children tried to escape out the back door during the shooting, said state Rep. Tammy Phelps during a news conference Sunday afternoon with other city officials.

Two adult women were also shot in Sunday’s attack, Bordelon told KSLA. Elkins’ wife, the mother of his children, was shot first and had “very serious injuries.” Then Elkins went to a separate residence where he shot the eight children and another woman. The other woman, who was the mother of the eighth child killed, has “life threatening injuries,” he added.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/19/us/shreveport-louisiana-shooting

• Incidents where a man kills multiple family members occur about once every five days in the U.S.
• This is a higher rate than in most other wealthy countries, due to the relatively easy access to firearms.
• Abusers who threaten to kill themselves or others pose a risk—especially if they have access to a gun.
• A jealous substance abuser with a gun poses a particularly deadly combination.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/invisible-chains/202506/familicide-domestic-abusers-killing-multiple-family-members

It's absolutely insane. How can this be allowed to happen ? I wonder if it is just about access to guns

It's not just about access to firearms, but firearms do make it much easier for abusive men to escalate to murder.

Its isn't just about guns.

That's why I posted the link to the article about Familicide.

It is well known that men who in some way feel disrespected, fears their wife / partner is going to leave, will not only kill her but their children as well.

I posted because these seemed so extreme. But in fact if you search online you will find really devastating stories of families being locked in a car and driven over a cliff.

It is another of those dont lets make public that violent men are violent men.

There are older threads about instances of this.

Will see if I can find them.

So no. Nothing to do with guns.

Here are some earlier threads about this.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/1519411-Tragic-Family-Situation-murder-of-children-apparently-by-their-father

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/3463279-Family-annihilation-article

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4713769-bbc-excuses-family-annihilator-with-1st-rule-misogyny

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5167036-family-annihilators-are-usually-husbands-and-fathers-now-they-are-sons

(I think Family Anninilators used to be the more common term than Familicide.)

is awful-why are some men so heartless they kill their own children...

It’s evil. At least this report doesn’t say what a lovely and loving family man this guy was. British reports usually do. The deep misogyny of the press dictates that, even in death, women are at fault.

Its all about men's perception of themselves. ie they control the family, are respected.

And if it ceases to be that then it has no right to exist.

In some instances it isn't even about a man who is or has been violent. But a man who feels he has lost his status because he has been sacked, made redundant. And out of "duty" to not leave behind a family to look after themselves after he no longer can, then killing everyone is the "kindest" thing to do.

There was a really good article talking about this in non jargon non accademic language and i just cant find it.

But sadly it is a known pattern of behaviour.

Just as those supporting women living with a violent man known that the most dangerous time for her is if he learns she is going to leave.

This is quite an old article and I am sure there has been more research since then.

https://www.bcu.ac.uk/news-events/news/characteristics-of-family-killers-revealed-by-first-classification-study

I happened to see this article written by a woman who lives in the area of these horrible killings.

It is tempting to treat Elkins’s actions as the isolated incident of a madman. But poor mental health is never a reasonable explanation for attempting to execute one’s wife and children.

Patriarchy offers a better explanation for this violence.

https://www.thecut.com/article/shreveport-killing-shamar-elkins-mental-health-patriarchy.html