in brief
- At least 10 people were shot, but police have not given details on the status of surviving victims.
- Police are classifying the incident as a 'domestic disturbance'.
Eight children aged one to 14 were killed in a mass shooting overnight in the US state of Louisiana, in an incident described as domestic violence. Police fatally shot the gunman during a vehicle chase, local authorities said.
The bodies of seven children were found inside a house, while the eighth was shot while trying a rooftop escape, Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Christopher Bordelon told local TV station KTBS.
A total of 10 people were shot, police said.
Preliminary information indicated the events began when the suspect shot a woman and then went a few blocks away to the home where the children lived, according to a Facebook post from the Shreveport police.
Bordelon told KTBS that there was an "incredibly gruesome" crime scene.
Police have identified the suspect as Shamar Elkins, Leigh Anne Evensky, director of communications for the Shreveport mayor's office, told the Reuters news agency.
The shooting occurred just after 6am on Sunday local time (9pm AEST), Bordelon said.
"This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we've ever had," Shreveport mayor Tom Arceneaux said.
A comprehensive domestic violence centre is being established by the Caddo Parish sheriff, which the mayor's office is working to support, Arceneaux later told Reuters.
At a news conference, Louisiana state senator Sam Jenkins, whose district includes much of Shreveport, said the shooting underscores the need for more resources to combat domestic violence.
"If we have someone with a history of domestic violence, let's make sure that those resources, that intervention is there on a continuous and consistent basis, hopefully to avoid what we've seen here today," Jenkins said.
Reuters was unable to immediately determine whether Elkins had such a history.
US House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson, a Shreveport native, on social media called the shooting a "heartbreaking tragedy." Louisiana governor Jeff Landry said on social media that he and his wife were "praying for everyone affected."
Not including Sunday's incident in Shreveport, the Gun Violence Archive lists at least 119 mass shootings in the United States this year, resulting in 117 deaths, including 79 children, and 458 people injured.
The archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people, not including the shooter, are injured or killed by gunfire.
The United States had 407 mass shootings last year, according to archive data.
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