The morning of April 19, 2026, began with ordinary sounds in Shreveport’s Cedar Grove neighbourhood — until rapid gunfire shattered the quiet. In the chaos that followed, one of the most chilling pieces of evidence to emerge is the 911 call placed by Shaneiqua Pugh, the wife of gunman Shamar Elkins, after she was shot in the face and fled to a neighbour’s house.

According to police and media reports that have reviewed the audio, the call captures raw terror: heavy breathing, screams, and fragmented, panicked words as Pugh tried to convey the unimaginable to the dispatcher. One dispatcher relayed to officers: “They have a female with a gunshot wound to the face saying the assailant left the scene… The female is saying there’s nine subjects that live inside the residence, and he may have shot them all.”

The call came minutes after the first shots. Elkins had allegedly shot his wife in the face at one residence before driving to a second home on West 79th Street, where he opened fire on a group of children. Eight children aged 3 to 11 were killed — seven of them Elkins’ own biological children and one cousin. Two women, including Pugh, were critically wounded but survived after emergency surgery.

A 13-year-old boy present during the attack became the sole child survivor after climbing onto the roof in terror and jumping to escape. He sustained broken bones but was not shot. Another child was found deceased on the roof after attempting to flee. Some reports mention a 12-year-old girl and her mother also jumping from the roof to escape.

The 911 audio has been described as heartbreaking by those familiar with it. Pugh’s voice is reportedly filled with pain and fear as she struggles to speak clearly through her injuries, desperately trying to warn authorities that her husband had gone on a rampage and that the children inside the home were in mortal danger. The dispatcher’s calm repetition of her words to responding officers underscores the horror unfolding in real time.

Family members later revealed that Elkins had been struggling with mental health issues. On Easter Sunday, April 5, he called his mother and stepfather in tears, confessing “dark thoughts” and suicidal ideation amid marital troubles. His wife had filed for divorce, and the couple was scheduled to appear in court the day after the shooting. Elkins reportedly told his stepfather, “Some people don’t come back from their demons.”

Police have classified the entire incident as domestic in nature. After the shootings, Elkins fled in a carjacked vehicle and was shot and killed by police during a pursuit into Bossier City.

The victims were identified as Jayla Elkins (3), Shayla Elkins (5), Kayla Pugh (6), Layla Pugh (7), Markaydon Pugh (10), Sariahh Snow (11), Khedarrion Snow (6), and Braylon Snow (5). The community remains in mourning, with many questioning whether earlier intervention for Elkins’ mental health crisis and the escalating divorce could have prevented the tragedy.

The 911 call stands as a haunting record of a mother’s desperate attempt to save lives even while fighting for her own. In those frantic seconds, her screams and broken words painted a picture of pure horror — a father turning on his own family in a domestic dispute that escalated into unimaginable violence.

As investigators continue to analyse the full audio, timeline, and any additional evidence, the focus remains on supporting the surviving family members, the injured women, and especially the young boy whose rooftop jump became an act of extraordinary courage amid the nightmare.

For Shaneiqua Pugh and the families shattered that morning, the emotional scars will likely last far longer than any physical wounds. The chilling 911 call serves as a painful reminder of how quickly a domestic crisis can spiral into irreversible loss — and how one woman’s terrified voice became the first alert that something unspeakable had happened.