Shamar Shooting Survivors Discharged as Shocking Arrest Made in Case That Killed His 8 Kids, Wife,
Well, tonight we’re hearing from the family of the victims who were brutally killed in Sunday’s mass shooting. Uncles, cousins, and even other close family friends describe the kids as full of joy. Just when Shamar Elkins shooting case felt like it could not carry any more weight, it did.
A second arrest has now been made in the Shamar Elkins case, and the man who was just federally charged is not someone on the edges of this story. He is the man Shamar Elkins drove to when the 68 minutes of terror were over, the man who opened his front door, the man who watched Elkins put a barrel to his own mouth and pull the trigger, and the man whose home when investigators returned with a search warrant turned out to be full of weapons he was legally prohibited from having while an active domestic violence protection order sat in his name. Three
federal charges, three convicted felons, three sets of illegal firearms, all connected to one morning in Shreveport, Louisiana. But, the arrests are not the only thing this case brought this week. Right now, as this video goes out, here is where every survivor stands. Shaniqua Pugh, Elkins’s wife, shot nine times, four daughters gone, is still in the ICU.
She has been seen from her hospital bed resharing videos of herself with the girls she lost. She is the only survivor still hospitalized. Christina Snow, Elkins’s ex-wife, shot nine times, a bullet still lodged in her face, has been discharged from hospital. She walked out of that building and straight into a vigil for three children she will never bring home.
Keosha Pugh, who shattered her pelvis and hip jumping from that roof, attended that same vigil in a wheelchair, still in the early stages of her surgical recovery. And Markiana, 12 years old, the girl who jumped from that roof while her brother was being shot, has been confirmed discharged from hospital by Shreveport police.
She is home with scratches on her body and something far heavier than that sitting inside her that no discharge paper covers. This case is expanding in every direction. Welcome to OJ Crime Stories. Subscribe right now. Hit the notification bell. Every update on this case comes here first. Drop a comment telling us where you are watching from.
1 2 3 We miss you. 1 2 3 We miss you. Last time say we love you. 1 2 3 We love you. We cannot forget their names. We cannot forget the nature of their of their demise because what we need to do now is we need to put in policies, we need to put in procedures that are in place to help prevent a tragedy like this in the future. Here is everything confirmed.
On the 23rd of April, 2026, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced a second federal charge directly connected to the Shamar Elkins case. The man charged is Michael Mayance, 54 years old, a Bossier City resident, a man who publicly described himself, in a Facebook post he later deleted, as someone who helped raise Shamar Elkins and had known him since he was 6 years old, a former military figure in Elkins’s life, someone Elkins considered close enough to drive to at the worst moment of his
life. Here is what the federal criminal complaint documents. After carrying out the massacre at West 79th Street, after shooting his wife Shaniqua, killing eight children, and carjacking a vehicle at gunpoint, Shamar Elkins drove to Mayance’s home on Brompton Lane in the Tiburon subdivision of Bossier City.
That is where the 68 minutes ended. According to Mayance’s own account, published in that since deleted Facebook post and later reported by Front Page Detectives, he opened the door because he had always cared for Elkins like a nephew. The two spoke for less than a minute, then Elkins put the barrel of the weapon to his own mouth and fired.
Mayance told reporters, when Elkins fired, officers outside, believing the shot was directed at them or at Mayance, returned fire. Mayance said he received glass fragments in his arm from the secondary impact. That account is consistent with preliminary autopsy information confirmed to KTBS pointing to a self-inflicted gunshot wound as the cause of Elkins’s death.
Louisiana State Police have confirmed that investigation is technically still open, but based on both the preliminary autopsy finding and Mayance’s own first-hand account, Elkins took his own at that doorstep. Now, here is where the second arrest enters. After the scene on Brompton Lane was cleared, investigators returned and executed a search warrant on Mayance’s home.
What they found inside changed his situation entirely. Several firearms were discovered inside the residence. A review of Mayance’s criminal history then revealed something critical. He had been subject to an active domestic violence protection order since October of 2024. That order was formally served on him in December of 2024 and was not set to expire until May of 2026.
Under federal law, without exception, any person subject to a domestic violence protection order is prohibited from possessing any firearm for the entire duration of that order. Mayance had multiple firearms in his home throughout that entire period. On the 23rd of April, the United States Attorney’s Office charged Mayance with illegally possessing a firearm while being subject to a domestic violence injunction.
He faces up to 15 years in federal prison. United States Attorney Zachary Keller stated directly, “Shamar Elkins’s heinous acts have shined a bright light on the danger that domestic violence presents, and the fact that he fled to the home of a man who himself illegally possessed firearms while being subject to a domestic violence order reflects the need to deter this illegal conduct.
” ATF Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson added that the arrest was made to prevent further risk to the public from an individual who is prohibited from having firearms and who was identified through the ongoing mass shooting investigation as a continued threat to public safety. Mayance’s sister, who identified herself publicly as someone the Elkins circle called Auntie Shell, appeared on the news saying she believes the charges are unfair.
She argued the law around protection orders and firearm possession is not widely known and that her brother should not be punished for something people do not know is illegal. A military colleague of Mayance left a comment on the ATF’s social media page defending him, describing him as a great man, a volunteer, a retired veteran who accumulated firearms over decades, and suggesting the protection order may have been filed unjustly.
The comment called the charges complete injustice. Here is what the law says regardless of those arguments. A domestic violence protection order, active from October of 2024, served formally in December of 2024, running through May of 2026, multiple firearms inside the home throughout that entire window. The law does not require the person to know it is illegal. It requires compliance.
That is the standard, and Mayance did not meet it. Pull back and look at the complete picture. Three men now face federal charges directly connected to the Shamar Elkins case. Each one was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm. Each one had illegal weapons in their possession, and all three were connected to one man in one city in the weeks and months before eight children were killed.
Charles Ford, 56 years old, a convicted felon prohibited from owning any firearm, had a Mossberg pistol under the seat of his truck, noticed it missing on the 9th of March, six weeks before the massacre, suspected Elkins took it, confronted him directly. When Elkins became aggressive, Ford backed down. He said nothing to anyone. Six weeks later, that Mossberg was used to kill eight children.
Ford now faces up to 15 years for the felon in possession charge and five additional years for lying to federal agents. Michael Mayance, 54 years old, subject to an active domestic violence protection order from October 2024 through May 2026, had multiple firearms inside his home throughout that entire period, opened his door to Shamar Elkins at the end of a 68-minute killing spree, watched Elkins die on his doorstep, now faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
Shamar Elkins, dead, but the subject of a continuing federal investigation into every weapon used and every person connected to how those weapons reached his hands. United States Attorney Zachary Keller has stated publicly that accountability in this case does not stop with the person who pulled the trigger.
That statement is the DOJ signaling the investigation is still moving. More may follow. As new confirmed details continue to emerge from people who knew Elkins, the picture of his final weeks becomes more specific and more troubling with every account. On the 10th of April, nine days before the shooting, Elkins sent a text message to Mayance’s sister, the woman the family called Auntie Shell.
The message read, “Auntie Shell, I need to hear your voice. Give me a call.” She never called back. Appearing on the news, she said, “It’s probably the biggest regret of my life right now.” She also confirmed that Elkins had confided in her about the divorce and had told her directly that he did not want it.
He wanted to stay married. He wanted to raise his children himself. In her words, “He didn’t want anybody else to raise his children. I know that.” She added that she never saw any sign he was capable of what happened. “I would never in a million years believe that he would do anything like this to himself or to anyone else.
” Investigators have also confirmed a new detail from the final hours. There was a domestic dispute between Elkins and Shaniqua the day before they were due in court. A cousin of Shaniqua confirmed to the news that Elkins was argumentative about the divorce in those final days. Though she was clear there had been no physical violence prior to the Sunday morning attack.
According to what investigators believe, once the attack began at West 79th Street, Elkins shot Shaniqua first. From that point, they believe he did not have a structured plan. He simply kept going. When you place that alongside what Mayance’s sister confirmed, that he did not want anyone else raising those children, a picture forms.
Not a justification, not an excuse. A pattern of a man who believed his identity as a father was the last thing holding his world together. And when that world began to legally dissolve, he destroyed it rather than lose it. His biological mother sent him a text two days before the shooting. It said, “I love y’all. Give my grandson and my granddaughters a kiss from grandma.” He never replied.
One narrative that circulated widely after this case broke suggested the relationship between Shaniqua Pugh and Christina Snow, the wife and the ex-wife, was a source of conflict. The families have pushed back on that directly. The public social media record supports what they are saying. In September of 2024, the same year Elkins and Shaniqua married, Christina posted publicly saying she loved Shaniqua as her children’s bonus mom and tagged both of them in the post.
In July of 2025, she posted again saying she was glad they were all doing what was best for the children. Earlier posts from 2016 show there was tension between the two women when Elkins and Christina were still together. But by the time Elkins married Shaniqua, the evidence shows they had evolved toward a cooperative arrangement.
Christina also consistently praised Elkins publicly as a devoted father. In 2023, Elkins commented on one of Christina’s posts saying he was glad his children were no longer being kept from him. Christina tagged him in a post that same year saying, “Thanks for being there, baby daddy. I love you forever.” He replied, “Thank you.
Really means a lot.” The families of both women have confirmed publicly they do not believe the dynamic between the two mothers played any role in what happened. They are grieving together, planning together, and asking the public to stop framing this tragedy as a conflict between two women when the only person responsible for what happened on April 19th is Shamarr Elkins.
Here is the confirmed status of every survivor as of the most current reporting. Shaniqua Pugh, shot nine times on the morning of April 19th. Four of her daughters were killed in the same house. She is the only survivor still hospitalized. As of Wednesday, the 23rd of April, Troy Brown confirmed to CNN that she remains in the ICU but is communicating and recovering.
Her family says they are limiting the number of visitors to keep her calm. She has been seen from her hospital bed re-sharing videos of herself with her four girls. Nobody in that family has figured out the right moment to sit with her through the full weight of what she is going to wake up to every morning for the rest of her life.
Christina Snow, shot nine times on the morning of April 19th on Harrison Street. According to NBC News at the time of reporting, she still had a bullet lodged in her face. Despite that, she was discharged from hospital on Wednesday, the 23rd of April. The following morning, Thursday, she attended a vigil outside the Head Start facility where her sons Braylon and Kedarian had been enrolled.
Teachers and community members stood with her. They released balloons into the sky for children who loved visiting the farm and had plans to attend summer camp together. Christina stood there with a bullet still in her face and released balloons for her babies. Keiosha Pugh, Shaniqua’s sister. She lived in that West 79th Street house.
She was there when Elkins came through the door. She grabbed her children and ran for the roof. Her 10-year-old son, Markhayden, was shot and killed as they tried to get out. She and her 12-year-old daughter, Markiana, jumped from that roof together. Keiosha broke her pelvis and her hip on impact. She was taken into surgery.
As of Wednesday, the 23rd of April, she attended the vigil for the children in a wheelchair still recovering. She is the one who has been sharing details of the upcoming joint funeral with the community. There is also something the family has now confirmed publicly that makes this grief run even deeper than anyone outside this community knew.
Shaniqua and Keiosha have been here before. 20 years ago, in the same month of April, their mother was struck in a crossfire, a shooting. The same two sisters who are now recovering from this massacre once watched their mother go through her own version of it. 20 years apart, same month, different generation, same family.
Markiana, 12 years old, confirmed discharged from hospital by Shreveport police. She is home. She survived with scratches on her body and things in her memory that will never fully leave. A family representative has publicly confirmed and clarified one more thing. Rumors circulating online suggesting one of the mothers experienced memory loss and was unaware her children were killed are false.
Both mothers are fully aware of what happened. Both are processing it. Both are displaced. Lashon Berry, aunt of Christina Snow’s children, confirmed to KSLA that the three families are in unity and are actively asking for donation support as all three mothers are currently without permanent housing while in recovery.
The families have confirmed the joint funeral for all eight children. According to Lashon Berry, all eight funerals are tentatively scheduled for the 23rd of May at the Shreveport Convention Center. All eight children will be buried near each other. The families say they are waiting until the mothers, particularly Shaniqua, have recovered enough to be fully present.
The 23rd of May is one day before Mother’s Day. Three mothers, eight children, one room, the day before a holiday that will never feel the same again for any of the women connected to this case. 11-year-old Serenity had dreams of opening a homeless shelter one day. 6-year-old Kedarian was described by his preschool teacher as an outgoing spirit who lit up every room he entered.
He and his siblings, Braylon and Serenity, had been excited about attending summer camp together that year, learning new skills, spending time as a family. They had plans. They had futures. They had a summer ahead of them. The Louisiana Governor’s Love One Louisiana Foundation has committed to covering all funeral and burial costs for all eight children.
The Community Foundation of North Louisiana has launched two dedicated funds, one for survivor support and one for domestic violence protection resources in the region. Three federal arrests. Three people legally prohibited from possessing firearms. Three sets of illegal weapons. All inside one social network in one city while eight children were still alive.
A 2019 weapons conviction barring Elkins from owning a firearm through 2029 on file with law enforcement. A February 2026 suicide attempt followed by VA hospitalization and discharge, documented. A 2023 death threat against his wife and children, known privately, never reported to any authority. A domestic dispute with Shaniqua the very day before their court date, now confirmed by family.
A stolen Mossberg that Charles Ford knew was missing from the 9th of March, six weeks out, and chose not to report after Elkins became aggressive when confronted. A mentor figure whose home contained multiple illegal firearms while he was under a domestic violence protection order and who opened the door when Elkins arrived at the end of it all.
In March of 2026, one month before the shooting, the Shreveport City Council voted to withdraw from a partnership to operate a dedicated domestic violence resource center. One month before the deadliest domestic violence event in Louisiana’s recorded history, that resource was voted away. Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said publicly that the chances were good this was not the first incident of domestic violence inside that home.
Prior incidents, unreported. A pattern that existed before April 19th and never entered any official record. The DOJ has said clearly through the language of both prosecutions that accountability in this case does not end with the man who pulled the trigger. The investigation is ongoing.
Both Charles Ford and Michael Mayance are moving through the federal court system. The full ATF firearms trace is still being completed. The full autopsy report has not been publicly released. And the formal motive investigation by Shreveport Police Department remains open. This case is not finished. The Ford and Mayance prosecutions will continue to develop.
The joint funeral is scheduled for the 23rd of May. Shaniqua is still in the ICU. Christina is home with a bullet still in her face. Keiosha is recovering in a wheelchair. And Markiana, 12 years old, is somewhere in Shreveport tonight carrying what no 12-year-old should carry alone.
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Three mothers lost eight children in one night. They are displaced. They are recovering. They are planning a funeral for the day before Mother’s Day. And the systems that should have caught this at every level had the information they needed and did not connect it in time. That accountability is still being written. We will be here when it is.
