What You Need To Know
- A man in Shreveport, Louisiana, killed 8 children early Sunday. Police say 7 were his own kids. Two women were also shot.
- The suspect, Shamar Elkins, was killed by police after a car chase ended in Bossier Parish.
- In Iowa City, a fight on the downtown Pedestrian Mall turned into a shooting. Five people were wounded, including three University of Iowa students.
- Both events happened the same Sunday — less than 24 hours apart — in very different settings.
- The U.S. has seen more than 114 mass shootings in 2026 so far, not counting the Shreveport attack.
Two shootings less than a thousand miles apart turned April 19, 2026, into one of the darkest single days in recent American memory. In one town, a father walked through three homes and ended the lives of eight children. In another, a late-night fight at a college hangout spot ended with five people bleeding on the pavement. Both happened before most of America had finished its Sunday coffee.
Here is what we know so far — and why these two very different shootings matter for every one of us.
Shreveport, Louisiana: A Domestic Attack Turns Into the Deadliest Mass Shooting Since 2024
The Timeline
Just after 6 a.m. in the Cedar Grove neighborhood of Shreveport, police got a call about a fight at a home on West 79th Street. When they arrived, they found something almost nobody in the city had ever seen before.
Police say a man named Shamar Elkins had already shot a woman on nearby Harrison Street. He then walked to a second home on West 79th Street. Inside, he killed seven children. An eighth child was shot while trying to escape off the roof. A ninth child — a 13-year-old boy — jumped from the roof and broke some bones, but police say he will survive.
The Victims
The children who died ranged in age from 18 months to around 14 years old. Seven of them were the shooter's own kids. Police also shot and wounded two women. One was his wife and the mother of some of the children. She was hit in the face and is expected to live. The other woman has life-threatening injuries.
The Chase and the Response
After the shooting, Elkins carjacked a driver near Linwood Avenue and tried to flee. Officers chased him into Bossier Parish. The chase ended when police fired at him and killed him. Louisiana State Police are now investigating that shooting.
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux called it maybe the worst tragedy in the city's history. The Shreveport City Council, Governor Jeff Landry, state Attorney General Liz Murrill, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson all released statements expressing shock and grief.
The Cedar Grove neighborhood where the attack happened sits in Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Cleo Fields, a Democrat who returned to Congress in 2025 after a 28-year absence. The 6th district was redrawn in 2024 as a majority-Black seat following a federal court ruling in the Allen v. Milligan line of cases. Johnson's 4th District covers most of the rest of the Shreveport metro area. Fields issued a statement Sunday calling the attack a heartbreaking tragedy.
According to CNN, which tracks mass shootings using Gun Violence Archive data, this is the deadliest mass shooting anywhere in the United States since January 2024.
Iowa City: A Fight on the Pedestrian Mall Ends in Gunfire
About seven hours before the Shreveport attack, police in Iowa City were responding to a very different kind of scene.
The Timeline
At 1:46 a.m., officers got reports of a large fight at the downtown Pedestrian Mall — a popular weekend gathering spot that sits right next to the University of Iowa campus. When officers arrived, they heard gunshots. Video from the scene showed crowds running in every direction.
Five people were wounded. Three of them were University of Iowa students. One victim is in critical condition. The other four are in stable condition.
The Campus Response
The University of Iowa sent out a "Hawk Alert" at 1:51 a.m. telling people to stay away from the area near East College and South Clinton streets. University President Barbara Wilson said the students are not believed to have been the intended targets. She said the university is working closely with the Iowa City Police Department.
Governor Kim Reynolds called the attack senseless and said the full resources of the state were available to help. Iowa City sits in Iowa's 1st Congressional District, represented by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican and physician who flipped the seat by just six votes in 2020.
The Investigation
As of Sunday evening, no one had been arrested. Police have released photos of five "persons of interest" and are asking the public for tips. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Cade Burma at 319-356-5275.
How the Two Shootings Compare
These two shootings looked very different — a planned domestic attack in a family home versus a public fight that spiraled out of control. But the end result was the same: more American families wondering why.
| Detail | Shreveport, LA | Iowa City, IA |
|---|---|---|
| Time | ~6:00 a.m. Sunday | 1:46 a.m. Sunday |
| Location | Cedar Grove neighborhood, private homes | Downtown Pedestrian Mall |
| Killed | 8 children (ages ~18 months–14) | 0 |
| Wounded | 2 women (one serious, one critical) | 5 people (1 critical, 4 stable) |
| Suspect | Shamar Elkins, 1 person | Unknown; 5 persons of interest |
| Weapon type | Assault-style firearm (per NPR) | Handgun (not yet confirmed) |
| Motive | Domestic dispute | Fight / dispute in crowd |
| Arrest status | Suspect killed by police | No arrests as of Sunday night |
The Bigger Picture: America's 2026 Gun Violence Numbers
Both shootings happened against a strange national backdrop. Overall gun deaths are going down. But mass shootings — events where four or more people are shot — are still piling up.
The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks every shooting it can verify from more than 6,500 sources, says 2026 has already seen more than 114 mass shootings before Sunday's events. The Trace, another gun data outlet, reports that early 2026 saw the lowest first-quarter gun-death count in 12 years.
The chart below shows how mass shootings have tracked month by month in 2026 so far. Each bar is the rough number of mass shooting incidents reported by the Gun Violence Archive during that month.
Chart · Gun Violence Archive
Mass shootings in the U.S. by month, 2026
Data: Gun Violence Archive, The Trace. Numbers are approximate and subject to revision as incidents are verified.
In other words, the country has two stories running at the same time: fewer Americans are dying from everyday gun violence than in years past, but mass killings keep producing headlines like the ones from Shreveport and Iowa City. Both things can be true.
What Congress Is (and Is Not) Doing
Every time a shooting like this hits the news, Americans ask the same question: what will Congress do about it? The honest answer is that Congress is often doing more than voters realize, even when bills do not pass.
Lawmakers in the current Congress have introduced bills on universal background checks, red flag laws that let families ask a judge to remove firearms from people in crisis, limits on assault-style weapons, safe-storage rules, and funding for community violence programs. Most of these bills sit in committee. A few get floor votes. Very few become law.
In 2024, then-Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared gun violence a public health crisis. He called for steps like universal background checks, assault-weapon limits, and large-magazine bans. Some of those ideas are still moving through the House and Senate today. Others have not moved at all.
Gun-Related Bills Now in Congress
Lawmakers have introduced dozens of gun-related bills in the 119th Congress. Here are seven that WhatsUpCongress is tracking right now — all currently sitting in committee:
| Bill | Sponsor | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| HR 7678 — Gun Owner Registration Information Protection Act | Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) | Bans federal agencies from funding or supporting state databases that list gun owners. |
| S 3916 — GRIP Act (Senate companion to HR 7678) | Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) | Senate version of the Gun Owner Registration Information Protection Act. Would block federal funds from supporting state firearm ownership databases. |
| HR 4821 — Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2025 | Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) | Authorizes CDC funding for research on firearms safety and gun violence prevention. |
| HR 4223 — Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act | Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) | Repeals the Tiahrt Amendments, which currently require background-check records to be destroyed within 24 hours and limit how ATF can share gun-trace data. |
| HR 4487 — Gun Safety Incentive Act | Rep. André Carson (D-IN) | Creates a 10% federal tax credit through 2030 for certified gun safes and secure storage devices, and funds community safe-storage programs. |
| HR 1456 — Gun Trafficker Detection Act | Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) | Requires gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm to ATF or local police within 48 hours of discovering it is missing. |
| S 2157 — Gun Violence Prevention Through Financial Intelligence Act | Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) | Directs the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to issue guidance on spotting suspicious firearm-related financial transactions tied to domestic extremism. |
Most of the bills above were introduced by members of the Democratic minority, who more often push firearms legislation. Republican leadership controls the House and Senate floor schedules in the 119th Congress, so whether any of these bills gets a vote depends on committee chairs and the Speaker's office. None has received a floor vote so far.
It is also worth noting that standalone bills are not the only way gun policy gets shaped in Congress. Republican-majority caucuses often pursue their firearms priorities through other channels: appropriations riders (short provisions tucked into large spending bills that can block specific ATF enforcement activities), oversight hearings, committee investigations, and Congressional Review Act resolutions that can overturn recent federal agency rules. These tools do not show up in bill-tracker data, but they can defund a program or force an agency policy change without a single standalone bill advancing. Any honest accounting of gun policy in the 119th Congress has to include both tracks.
Both Shreveport and Iowa City sit in congressional districts where their representatives have very different views on gun laws. You can look up your own members of Congress and see how they voted. That is part of the civic puzzle: the same country, the same tragedy, very different solutions being proposed.
What This Means for You
- Domestic violence is a gun violence issue. The Shreveport attack started as a family dispute. Strong domestic-violence laws and firearm removal rules matter for your own neighborhood, not just national headlines.
- Public shootings often start as fights. Iowa City's shooting began with a brawl at a bar district. Cities can lower risk with better lighting, camera coverage, and trained public-safety staff — but so can everyday people by walking away from conflicts.
- Your vote shapes gun laws more than any single speech does. Most gun rules in America come from Congress, state legislatures, and city councils. Knowing who represents you — and how they voted — is real civic power.
- Mental health funding is on the ballot too. Every budget fight in Washington decides how many counselors, crisis lines, and school social workers your state can afford. Those programs are part of the answer.
- You can track every bill. WhatsUpCongress shows you which gun-related bills are moving, who is sponsoring them, and how your members voted. Civic action starts with knowing.
Where the Country Goes From Here
The Shreveport children were, according to the mayor, coming off a Saturday of birthday parties and family time. The Iowa City students were doing what college students do on a Saturday night. None of them chose to be inside a news story. But on April 19, 2026, all of them were.
The questions now are the ones Americans have been asking for a long time: Can we protect families from the most dangerous person inside their own home? Can we keep weapons out of bar fights and street fights? Can Congress do something that survives more than one news cycle?
The answers will not come from one article. They will come from 535 members of Congress, 50 governors, thousands of local officials — and from the millions of Americans who decide whether to pay attention. Days like today are a reminder that paying attention is the first step.