By Gerald Herbert and John Seewer
The Associated Press
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A gunman in Louisiana killed eight children and shot two other people April 19 in an early morning attack of domestic violence carried out across two houses, a mass shooting that shook a Shreveport neighborhood, authorities said.
The suspect died after a police pursuit, and the victims — who ranged in age from 1 to about 14 years old — included children related to the gunman, said Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. Investigators did not say what may have set off the attack. Conditions of those wounded were not immediately known.
The mass shooting was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than two years.
“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” Bordelon said.
Officers fired at the suspect during a chase after he stole a car while leaving the scene of the shootings, Bordelon said.
Police did not release the name of the suspect but did say he was an adult male.
Officials said they were still gathering details at the crime scenes south of downtown Shreveport, including from the two homes and a third location.
Liza Demming, who lives two houses down from where one of the attacks happened, said her security camera captured video of the suspect running away along with the sound of two shots.
“That’s’ pretty much all I saw was him running out of the house and the cars leaving,” she said.
Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof. She said she did not know the gunman’s name.
“He looks like the dad that comes over here,” she said, adding that he was just with the children a few days ago.
Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr., of nearby St. Gabriel Community Baptist Church, who owns one of the homes where the shootings occurred, said a person who works for him had rented it to the family, but he never had dealings with them.
“I don’t really know them, I really don’t,” he said. “I do plan on having a prayer vigil for the family, and anything I can do, with so many children, to help them bury the children, I’m going to do so.”
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.
“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”
“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It’s a terrible morning.”
Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate. In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting that involved an officer after a police pursuit into Bossier City on the morning of April 19.
State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Shreveport, said in separate statements that they were heartbroken and praised law enforcement for their response.
“We’re holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” Johnson said in a statement.
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This story has been corrected to attribute the statements about the shooting to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon, not Police Chief Wayne Smith.
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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz in New York, Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed.