Louisiana gunman had sought mental health treatment, relatives say

Eight children were killed in a shooting spree early on April 19 in the southern US state of Louisiana, in what police said appears to have been an incident of domestic violence. Photo / Gianrigo Marletta, AFP

The man who fatally shot eight children in the Louisiana city of Shreveport, seven of them his own, had been hospitalised in recent months for mental health issues, according to family members.

Shamar Elkins, 31, who served in the Louisiana Army National Guard, visited the local Veterans Affairs hospital for a mental health evaluation, stayed there for a week and a half and was released, said Crystal Brown-Page, a cousin of Elkins’ brother-in-law, Troy Brown.

Elkins’ wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, told him she was seeking a divorce, and they were due to appear in court this week, Brown-Page said.

“I think that triggered something in him,” she said, but they had not argued the previous week and he had not been violent in the past. “There were no previous signs.”

Troy Brown, who lived with Elkins and whose 10-year-old son was also killed in the rampage, agreed.

“He had his head on straight, talking about the things he was going to do right, being a good dad,” Brown said, adding that the night before the shooting, when Brown left to work night shift, Elkins joked with him as he moved his car to let Brown pull out.

“He was calm. It’s like he had no cares in the world,” Brown said.

The shootings took place at multiple locations early on a Sunday morning, left eight children dead, two adult women wounded – the mothers of his seven children – and another woman and child injured. Elkins was killed after being shot at by police following a car chase that ended in Bossier City. Shaneiqua Pugh was the mother of four of the dead children. Christine Snow was the mother of three others, and the eighth child was Elkins’ nephew.

The victims were Jayla Elkins, 3; Braylon Snow, 5; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Khedarrion Snow, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; and Sariahh Snow, 11, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office.

The youngest child killed, a daughter of Elkins, had just turned 3 last month and was small for her age, according to relatives, which could be why police initially described her as younger.

Soon after the shooting, a relative received a frantic phone call from Markaydon Pugh’s mother, Keosha Pugh, who was injured with her 12-year-old daughter when they jumped from the roof of the house in an attempt to flee.

“She was yelling in the phone, saying ‘He done shot the kids, he killed the kids,’” Brown-Page said.

She rushed to the scene, where she found the 12-year-old covered in blood: “She was trying to help her brother.”

Two of the women whose children were killed – the gunman’s wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, who was shot multiple times; and her sister, Keosha Pugh, who was living with them and was injured fleeing the shooting.

“The family has been able to talk to her. Basically, she asked about her children,” said Brown-Page, referring to Shaneiqua Pugh, who remained hospitalised. “They’re limiting the number of people who go in because they’re trying to keep her calm.”

Christine Snow, the mother of Braylon, Sariahh and Khedarrion Snow, was shot by Elkins. Her condition was not available.

Brown-Page last saw Elkins and his wife on Saturday night, when they stopped by her house. She didn’t notice anything was amiss. “They seemed good. They were together. There didn’t seem to be any issues,” she said. “Everyone is trying to figure out what sparked it.”

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