U.S.|Louisiana Killer’s Threats to Himself and Others Hinted at Future Violence

Shamar Elkins and his soon-to-be-wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, were sitting on a couch three years ago in Shreveport, La., as their daughters played outside.

Betty Walker — the woman who had raised Mr. Elkins as her son, though she was not his biological mother — was there, too, and could tell there was friction between the couple.

Ms. Pugh said that evening that she was considering leaving Mr. Elkins and taking her children with her, Ms. Walker recalled in an interview.

Mr. Elkins was furious, Ms. Walker said. He looked at Ms. Pugh and declared that if they tried to leave, “I’ll kill you, my kids and myself.”

“Don’t think like that,” Ms. Walker recalled telling him as she paused her cooking and peeped into the living room. Ms. Pugh tried to assure her that he was “just playing.”

“Well, don’t play like that,” Ms. Walker replied.

On Monday, she was replaying that scene in her mind, trying to grasp how Mr. Elkins could have grabbed an assault pistol early Sunday morning and, in the space of about 15 minutes, gone on a chilling rampage that officials said had left eight children dead, including seven of his own. Two women were also wounded, among them his wife.