Neighbors recall "full-blown shootout" as father targeted kids in shooting

1 hour ago 6

Neighbors who witnessed the aftermath of the massacre of 8 children successful Shreveport, Louisiana are describing the "chaos" they heard and saw arsenic a begetter fatally changeable 7 of his ain children and 1 of their cousins aboriginal Sunday morning.

Police person identified the suspected gunman arsenic Shamar Elkins, who fled instrumentality enforcement successful a stolen car aft carrying retired the shooting. They said helium died aft officers chased him and opened fire.

Two witnesses, Jacob and Tiffany Castleman, told CBS affiliate KSLA they were shocked and horrified arsenic "a full-blown shootout" took spot extracurricular their home. Tiffany said she woke her hubby aft proceeding sirens and what she believed was imaginable gunfire.

"And past erstwhile I heard the barrage, I knew that determination was a full-blown shootout, thing going," she told the station. "Mind you, we had nary hint the aboriginal incidents that happened, but I had conscionable afloat terror."

Jacob said his archetypal thought was "there's nary mode that that conscionable happened down our house."

"I was conscionable successful full shock. ... it was conscionable chaos," helium told KSLA . "I mean, honestly like, it was conscionable thing similar I've ever experienced."

He told the presumption helium remembered proceeding much gunfire, seemingly "pretty close" to wherever helium and his woman had been sleeping. Once outside, helium said that helium saw constabulary officers with their guns drawn, shouting to the fishy to enactment his hands up and travel out.

Liza Demming, a neighbour who lives 2 houses down from the residence wherever astir victims were shot, told The Associated Press that her information camera captured video of the gunman moving distant and the sounds of 2 shots.

"That's beauteous overmuch each I saw, was him moving retired of the location and the cars leaving," she said.

Demming told AP that she aboriginal saw a child's covered assemblage connected the extortion of the residence.

Community reacts

Lashuan Berry, who owns the daycare Valley of Hope Center for Kids and knew the fishy and his family, said Elkins seemed to person "no soul."

"You could spot successful his eyes, thing down the eyes. Dead down the eyes," Berry told KSLA. "No soul. NPC, non-player character. He didn't person one."

But others successful the assemblage person said the tragic transgression was unexpected.

Fred Montgomery, a neighbour who lives crossed the thoroughfare from the location wherever the shooting happened, told CBS News helium hadn't seen immoderate signs the gunman would bash thing similar this.

"The kids played successful the gait each evening," Montgomery said. "Yesterday evening, helium was sitting connected the porch, I waved astatine him, helium waved back, the children were successful the gait ... and past this greeting we woke up to each of this."

A person of a comparative of 1 of the victims, who asked for anonymity, told KSLA the fishy "basically went AWOL."

"We bash not cognize what triggered him. We don't cognize what happened. But to bash what helium did to those kids should person ne'er happened astatine all," the idiosyncratic said. "Every clip I seen him, helium was thing but smiles and everything similar that. I ne'er dove into the backstory of it to fig retired what was going on, but they never, ever showed immoderate problems wrong the household."

Police said the gunman changeable 10 people, including 2 women, 1 of whom was his wife. A comparative told AP that some were the mothers of the gunman's children, and helium and his woman had been arguing astir their separation up of a scheduled tribunal quality Monday.

The gunman initially changeable 1 pistillate successful the look during a home quality that began astatine astir 5 a.m., earlier traveling to a antithetic residence successful the country and shooting each of the 8 radical who were killed. Police described the shooting — the nation's deadliest successful much than 2 years — arsenic "execution-style," and said the gunman targeted victims arsenic they tried to flight the location done a window.

According to the coroner's office, the mothers identified the children as: Jayla Elkins, property 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

In: