Shamar Elkins, 31, the man suspected of shooting eight children—seven of his own and another child—was reportedly “drowning in dark thoughts” in the weeks leading up to the killings, a New York Times report said.
Elkins was shot dead Sunday during a police chase across parts of Shreveport. Authorities said he had allegedly executed the children, who ranged in age from 1 to 14. He also shot two other people, including his wife, who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. It remains unclear whether Elkins died from police gunfire or a self-inflicted wound.
The Times described a series of conversations about Elkins’s mental state roughly a month before the shootings. On Easter Sunday, he spoke tearfully with his mother, Mahelia, and his stepfather, Marcus Jackson, saying he was struggling with his mental health, contemplating suicide, and that his wife planned to file for divorce. The shooting reportedly occurred just hours before the couple were due in court to begin formal separation proceedings.
Jackson recalled telling Elkins, “You can beat stuff, man. I don’t care what you’re going through, you can beat it,” and remembered Elkins responding, “Some people don’t come back from their demons.”
Mahelia said she had not been close to her son for much of his life after giving birth to him as a teenager while dealing with a cocaine addiction. Elkins was raised primarily by another woman, Betty Walker, who told police she saw him and his family for dinner about a week before the killings and that he appeared normal. Walker later lamented the loss of the children.
A co-worker at UPS, Willie Vasher, described Elkins as a seemingly typical family man who had an unusual stress-related tic of pulling out his hair, which left a bald spot. Records show Elkins had at least two prior convictions: a 2016 driving-while-intoxicated charge and a 2019 conviction for illegal use of a weapon. The investigation into the motive and circumstances of the murders is ongoing.
