- GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING
The former Army National Guardsman who executed his family was battling ‘dark thoughts’ before he shot eight young children dead, his parents have claimed.
Shamar Elkins, 31, opened fire at a home in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday during a domestic disturbance with his 34-year-old wife Shaneiqua Pugh.
Elkins had been stressed about his relationship with Pugh, who sought a divorce, and was struggling with suicidal ideation, his parents told The New York Times.
He reportedly called his mother, Mahelia Elkins, and stepfather, Marcus Jackson, in tears over Easter and told them that he wanted to end his life.
‘I told him, “You can beat stuff, man. I don’t care what you’re going through, you can beat it,”‘ Jackson told the newspaper. ‘Then I remember him telling me: “Some people don’t come back from their demons.”‘
Elkins and Pugh were wed in 2024. Ms Elkins said she did not know the reasons why Pugh was seeking to end their marriage.
Elkins, who was fatally shot by police during a vehicle chase, killed his seven children and a nephew ‘execution style’ in one of the deadliest family massacres in American history.
A total of 10 people were shot, with Pugh and another woman surviving.
Mahelia Elkins last saw her son the weekend before the massacre when his family came to their home for dinner.
She alleged that ‘nothing appeared off with him at the time,’ the Times reported.
Ms Elkins was a teenager and addicted to crack cocaine when she got pregnant with Elkins, she revealed. She left him to be raised by a family friend.
She reconnected with Elkins about 10 years ago, but said the pair were not extremely close.
She and Jackson had felt ‘uneasy’ about their son in recent weeks, and texted him last Tuesday to check on his wellbeing.
He allegedly told her the family was ‘ok’ and she replied by sending her love to him and the children. She said he never replied to her message.
Shreveport police told the Daily Mail that Elkins and Pugh had an argument at the home they shared with the children before his shooting rampage.
The couple had been together for 10 years and married on April 9, 2024, according to a poignant Facebook post by Pugh, marking their first wedding anniversary.
They had four daughters together.
Pugh and Elkins were in the middle of separating and were due in court on Monday, said Crystal Brown, a cousin of one of the wounded women.
Brown said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.
‘He murdered his children,’ Brown said. ‘He shot his wife.’
Elkins shared four children with Pugh and three others with another woman who lived close by. She was also one of the women shot, according to Brown.
All of Elkins’ children had been together at one house at the time of the shooting.
Just days before the shooting, Elkins and his seven children posed for a family photograph to commemorate the Easter holiday.
‘Happy Easter had a wonderful time at church for the first time with all my kids what a blessed day,’ he wrote alongside the image posted on social media.
Earlier this month, Elkins also responded to a viral social media prompt that read: ‘Dads If you could go back in time and have kids with a different woman but still have the same kids, would you do it?’
His reply was blunt. ‘Hell yehhhhhhhh I would.’
Since the shooting, that comment has resurfaced, drawing a wave of grief, anger, and disbelief from those now looking back at his words.
The horrific ordeal unfolded across three different locations. The first was where the children were massacred in a home just a stone’s throw away from a Baptist church.
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 were all found dead inside the home.
His children’s mothers were also shot. One of the women is expected to survive the attack, but the other woman suffered serious life-threatening injuries.
A young boy, caught in the chaos, leapt from the roof of the home in a desperate attempt to escape.
Elkins then performed a carjacking at that location and led officers on a high-speed chase, traveling a quarter-mile away, police said.
He then drove to the third location. He was shot and killed by police there.
Elkins allegedly shot his wife several times, including in the head and stomach.
Pugh was undergoing surgery Sunday night, and her family was identifying the bodies of her children, a relative told the Daily Mail.
‘We are in shock right now with the events that’s unfolded. Family members are standing by her hoping her surgery goes well,’ the relative said.
‘It’s truly a tragedy to experience this loss. Losing seven of your children and also being shot yourself.’
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.
Elkins previously served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a Signal Support System Specialist and a Fire Support Specialist, an Army official told Fox News Digital.
‘He has no deployment. He left the Army as a private.’
Elkins also has a criminal history.
He was previously arrested in 2019, after cops said he fired several shots near a high school in Shreveport, according to court records obtained by the Daily Mail.
Elkins was charged with illegal use of weapons and dangerous instrumentalities and carrying a firearm or dangerous weapon near a school.
He served 30 days in the parish jail and was placed on supervised release for 18 months.
