United States: eight children aged 1 to 14 killed in shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, according to police

Three adults were also injured during this massacre involving family violence, which took place Saturday night into Sunday in Shreveport, a major city in northern Louisiana.

Mass shootings are becoming increasingly common in the United States. However, the unprecedented violence of the Shreveport tragedy transcends American borders this Sunday. This is likely because it is considered the deadliest shooting in the country in over two years, especially because the victims were aged 1 to 14.

For the police, it all started with a call this Sunday to respond to domestic violence. They discovered the horror that unfolded during the night in two separate homes in this typically American neighborhood, with its single-story houses resembling bungalows and neatly trimmed lawns.

There, eight children were found dead from gunshot wounds, just as their lives were beginning to take shape. Some of them were even the children of the presumed perpetrator of this massacre. The crime scene is described as “particularly macabre,” acknowledged later by Corporal Chris Bordelon during a press conference. This is not to mention that two adult women were also shot in the head and a young man was injured after jumping from a roof, according to local media.

“I am speechless, completely stunned,” lamented Wayne Smith, chief of police in this major city in northern Louisiana. “I cannot imagine how such an event could have occurred.”

One man was involved in the incident. After the police arrived, the presumed perpetrator, whose identity has not been revealed, took off in a car while armed, trying to escape. The authorities then “chased the vehicle and used their firearms,” detailed Corporal Chris Bordelon to the press. He was eventually shot and killed by the police during this pursuit, according to the authorities, who reported no injuries among their ranks. They believe he is the sole person involved in this case.

“This is a tragic situation, perhaps the worst we have ever experienced,” commented Tom Arceneaux, mayor of this city in the southern United States with 180,000 inhabitants. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he had a “broken heart facing this horrible situation” and declared praying with his wife “for all those affected.”

This is indeed the worst death toll from a shooting in the United States since eight people were killed in a suburb of Chicago in January 2024. Prior to that, the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, shook the country when an 18-year-old man killed two teachers and 19 children in a primary school.

However, across the Atlantic, shootings are a recurring scourge that successive governments have so far failed to contain, as many Americans remain very attached to their firearms. With more guns in circulation than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of firearm mortality of all developed countries. Last year, in 2025, nearly 15,000 people were killed by firearms in the country, not including suicides.