A mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana left at least eight people dead Sunday morning, including children as young as 18 months old, in what police described as a domestic-related attack that unfolded across four separate locations in the Cedar Grove neighborhood.
The suspected gunman was fatally shot by police after he attempted a carjacking, according to Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith. Two women were shot in the head but survived the attack. A young boy was injured jumping from a roof to escape the violence.
The victims included children ranging from 18 months to 14 years old. Police have not yet released the names of the suspect or the deceased, with Smith noting that investigators are still processing "a very large scene with four specific locations."
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux called it "maybe the worst tragic situation" the northwestern Louisiana city of roughly 187,000 people has experienced in recent memory. "It's a terrible morning in Shreveport, and we all know my heart goes out to this entire community for the tragic event that has taken place this morning," he said at a Sunday news conference.
Police have not disclosed a specific motive, though they indicated the violence appeared to stem from a domestic dispute. A full investigation remains ongoing.
The Shreveport killings mark at least the sixth mass murder in the United States so far in 2026, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-partisan database that defines mass murders as incidents in which four or more people are killed.
The shooting came as another violent incident unfolded over the weekend in Iowa. On Saturday night, five people were wounded in a shooting near the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City. Three of the injured were students. One victim was in critical condition while the others remained stable. No arrests have been announced in connection with that shooting.
University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson released a statement saying, "While we await additional information, I am thinking about these students and their families, friends, and all the people who care about them. I am holding them close in my thoughts, along with everyone in our community who is hurting or feeling shaken right now."
The Iowa City incident adds to the more than 110 mass shootings recorded across the country in 2026, using the Gun Violence Archive's definition of mass shooting as an event in which four or more people are wounded or killed.
The persistent surge in mass shooting incidents has intensified calls for stricter gun control measures, though Congress has repeatedly declined to act on such legislation.
Author James Rodriguez: "The frequency of these events and the targeting of children makes each one feel like a failure of the system meant to prevent them."
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