Felon Charged With Arming Man Who Killed 8 Children in Shreveport

Federal prosecutors on April 21 charged Charles Ford, 56, with making false statements to federal agents and being a felon in possession of a firearm—the one that Shamar Elkins used to kill eight children in Louisiana in the early hours of April 19.

Prosecutors traced the firearm, a .22-caliber Mossberg 715P, to Ford,

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana said that investigators found that the gun’s original purchaser, a woman who had since been hospitalized, had given it to Ford to hold.

When agents first questioned Ford after the April 19 massacre, he allegedly denied ever having possessed the weapon and acknowledged that he was legally barred from doing so as a convicted felon. He later allegedly admitted to agents that he had kept the gun under the seat of his truck and that he suspected that Elkins, who frequently rode with him, had stolen it in the weeks before the mass shooting.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller made clear that authorities are pursuing the full chain of custody.

“Elkins’ death means that our community will never see him face justice,” Keller said in an April 21 statement. “Our hope, as we continue to investigate and prosecute this case alongside our law enforcement partners, is that holding the person whose gun Elkins used to perpetrate the crime accountable will give some small bit of solace to our Shreveport community.”

Shreveport Police Cpl. Chris Bordelon spelled out what the federal charge unlocks.

“It opens up all the tools that we have at our disposal and gives us more investigative factors so that we can identify these individuals that helped purchase this gun, who helped transfer it, and put it in the hands of Mr. Elkins. And we’re gonna hold them accountable, and we’re gonna put them in prison,” he said in a statement on April 22.

Ford faces up to 15 years in federal prison on the firearm charge and up to five years for making a false statement.

The city of Shreveport was still reeling when the arrest came.

On April 20, the day before the charges against Ford were filed, a stunned Shreveport was struggling to come to grips with the murder of eight children carried out by a father who was separating from his wife. Officials said the children who died—three boys and five girls—ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old. Seven were Elkins’s own children, while one was his nephew. His wife and her sister were also shot and wounded.

Caddo Parish coroner’s record identified the victims 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.

Elkins, who had pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in 2019 and served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 2013 to 2020, was killed by police during a vehicle chase shortly after the shootings.

Flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals have since filled a growing sidewalk memorial in front of the family’s home on West 79th Street.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, and his wife offered their prayers to those affected on Sunday afternoon, hours following the shooting.

“Sharon and I are heartbroken over this horrific situation, and we’re praying for everyone affected,” Landry wrote in an X post. “We’re deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene.”

Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith, visibly shaken at a news briefing on April 20, captured the community’s disbelief.

“I just don’t know what to say. My heart is just taken aback. I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur,” Smith said.