Louisiana gunman was going through a divorce and drowning in ‘dark thoughts’ before fatally shooting eight children dead, family says

NewsWorldAmericasUS Crime NewsLouisiana gunman was going through a divorce and drowning in ‘dark thoughts’ before fatally shooting eight children dead, family saysShamar Elkins told his family that he wanted to take his own life prior to the attack, according to a report Owen Scott Monday 20 April 2026 11:37 BSTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":false,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2960893","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/shamar-elkins-shreveport-shooting-children-b2960893.html","title":"Louisiana gunman had ‘dark thoughts’ before shooting 8 kids, report"}}CloseLouisiana police name Shamar Elkins as gunman who killed eight children in mass shootingThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Evening_Newsletter","regTitle":"Evening Headlines","subscriptionGroup":"us_evening_headlines","subscriptionGroupId":"4326e634-422a-4447-8e1e-604a937cd3b5","type":"daily_news","pathPrefix":["/us","/news/world/americas","/news/world/americas/crime"],"title":"The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday","mobileTitle":"Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/usEveningHeadlines1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveEveningHeadlinesUSNews","regSourceSection":"US Crime News",...