A man shot dead eight children -- seven of them his own -- early Sunday in the southern US state of Louisiana in an incident of domestic violence that spanned three locations, police said.
The early morning massacre at a gray house in the city of Shreveport was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States in more than two years, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
Two women were shot and seriously injured, including the mother of some of the slain children.
Three boys and five girls aged between three and 11 were shot and killed, the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office said. Seven of the children were siblings, and one was a cousin.
Police identified the gunman as Shamar Elkins, 31. He had escaped the scene of the shootings in a carjacked vehicle and was chased by police, who then shot him dead.
"At the end of that pursuit, the suspect exited the vehicle with a firearm, and ultimately our officers were forced to neutralize the suspect," police Corporal Chris Bordelon told reporters.
An AFP videographer at the scene saw five bullet holes visible in the white door of the small, two-story house. Well-wishers laid bouquets of flowers nearby.
Bordelon said seven of the eight children were the shooter's "own."
He said police "are still actively investigating, trying to determine the why" and were combing for evidence in a crime scene that spanned three residences.
"We do believe him to be the only individual that fired gunshots at these locations," Bordelon said, calling the incident a "domestic disturbance."
Police said that Elkins was arrested in 2019 in a firearms case in which he pleaded guilty, but they were not aware of other issues of domestic violence in his past.
"This is a terrible event to occur. It's especially important and distressing that the victims are all children," city Mayor Tom Arceneaux told reporters.
"It lets you know that evil still exists in the world and that we need to be fighting everything we can to overcome that evil with good, to shed light in the darkness."
- 'Heartbroken' -
Nine children were at the second residence visited by the gunman. One survived and was in a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury, Arceneaux said.
The coroner's office said the children who were killed were identified by their mothers as: 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.
ABC affiliate KTBS reported that the two women were shot in the head.
Police told AFP that one of the women who had been shot in the lower part of the face had raised the alarm with a neighbor who had made the 911 emergency call to alert authorities between 5:00 am and 5:30 am local time.
Freddie Montgomery, 72, who lives across the street from the home where the children were killed said he saw police remove bodies from the house Sunday morning.
"At this time yesterday afternoon, all of those kids were in the front yard playing. And he was sitting on the porch," Freddie told AFP.
One of Louisiana's two US senators, Republican Bill Cassidy, called the incident an episode of "horrific violence" and wished the survivors a speedy recovery.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he was "heartbroken."
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives who was born in Shreveport and is a congressman for the region, denounced the incident on X as a "senseless tragedy."
"It's a terrible morning in Shreveport and we all mourn with the victims," Arceneaux said at a news conference.
The United States, where firearms are readily available, is a frequent scene of gun violence, with thousands of people killed every year. It has the highest rate of gun-related deaths among all developed nations.
