A Louisiana community is grappling with enormous loss after a man killed seven of his children in a “catastrophic” shooting that also left another child dead and two women seriously injured. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The incident that took place Sunday involved multiple scenes, according to Shreveport police, who said it began just after 6 a.m. following reports of a domestic disturbance. Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said at a news conference Sunday that it may be the “worst tragic situation we’ve ever had.”Here is everything we know about the shootings. Multiple people shot after domestic violence incidentPolice said the suspect, identified as Shamar Elkins, first shot a woman on Harrison Street before heading to a home in the 300 block of West 79th Street, where he gunned down all eight children. He then fled and carjacked a person at gunpoint before he was fatally shot by police. The department said that “officers were forced to discharge their department-issued firearms.” Shreveport police said nothing suggests any wrongdoing by the officers. The Louisiana State Police is investigating the shooting of the suspect.Police work outside the scene of the mass shooting in Shreveport, La., on Sunday.Gerald Herbert / APWho are the victimsThe gunman shot 10 victims in all, including eight children. He is believed to be the father of seven of the children killed, police spokesperson Christopher Bordelon said. The eighth child was a cousin, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said. Their mothers identified them 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. Most of the children were shot in the head, Bordelon said. He said that it appears many of them were shot in their sleep. One child was found dead on the back roof. “It is a disgusting and evil scene,” he said.The suspect’s wife and another woman believed to be his girlfriend were shot and seriously wounded. Authorities said the wife was shot in the face. A teenager suffered injuries that were not life-threatening after falling off a roof during the violence, officials said. Video from the scene showed blood and bullet holes on the door of the home. Suspect was an Army veteranThe suspect served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist, the Army said in a statement. He never deployed and left as a private. He was arrested in 2019 and convicted of illegal use of a firearm. Bordelon said the suspect was likely prohibited from legally owning firearms because of the conviction. In a statement Monday, police said he acted alone in Sunday’s shooting. Motive still under investigationA motive in the violent rampage is still under investigation. “We know it’s domestic in nature, we know his wife is involved, and she is the mother of at least seven of the children, with the eighth being a family friend,” Bordelon said.People grieve as they comfort each other outside the scene of the mass shooting on Sunday that left 8 children dead and two women injured.Gerald Herbert / APA small-caliber handgun was used in some of the violence, authorities said. Elkins had a “rifle-style pistol” when police confronted and killed him, according to Bordelon. The suspect’s Facebook page sheds very little light on what led up to the killings. In his last post Friday, he said he took his daughter on a “1 on 1 date” and shared a photo of the girl eating in the car. “Had to catch her down bad ugh ugh,” he wrote, including the laughing and hamburger emojis. Another post showed him posing with the children on Easter. In others, the suspect reposted a prayer about asking God “to help me guard my mind and my emotions” and reposted a message about men trying to fix their lives. Neighbors say ‘there is no sense’ to shootingsFreddie and Marie Montgomery live across the street, but said they did not know the family well. They said the family had only been living in the home for about six months. “When they brought all those kids out of that house, that’s just the worst thing I ever seen,” Marie Montgomery said. Freddie Montgomery said that before the shooting, he saw a man in the front yard and the children were outside playing. He said he waved and the man waved back. It’s not clear if the man he saw was Elkins. “When we found out what had actually happened over there, it was just, just a shock,” he said. “There is no sense in this.” Mack London, 71, lives on the same block but said he did not hear any gunfire. He learned of the killings from a neighbor when he went outside around 7 a.m. to close his gate.Police tape runs across 79th Street in Shreveport, La., as police work at the scene. Gerald Herbert / APLondon, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1991, said that kind of violence is unheard of. “Nothing like this has ever happened on this street,” he said. “t was bad. … I hate that it happened to those kids.”Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said in a statement on X that he was “heartbroken” over the shooting. In a statement on Facebook, Mayor Arceneaux said the entire community “is grieving the unimaginable loss of innocent children.””There are no words that can make sense of it, and no distance that shields us from it,” he said. Many City Council members gathered near the home Sunday afternoon to pray. Through tears, Council Chair Tabatha Taylor said the children “had their whole life ahead of them.” “I’m going to ask the community, along with prayer, with every mental health consultant that is out there — this family and this community needs you,” she said.