[Episcopal News Service] The bishops of the Episcopal dioceses of Louisiana and Western Louisiana issued statements calling for prayers after an April 19 mass shooting at two homes in Shreveport killed eight children and wounded several other people.
“No words can adequately express our horror and heartache. The consolations of our faith do not erase or compensate for our grief,” Western Louisiana Bishop Jacob W. Owensby said in an April 20 statement to the diocese, which includes Shreveport.
This is the deadliest mass shooting since 2024. The alleged shooter is the father of seven of the children. The other child was his nephew. The gunman was fatally shot by police after fleeing in a carjacked vehicle.
The gunman also allegedly shot his wife, the mother of four of his children, and his ex-wife, the mother of three of his children. His sister-in-law and 12-year-old niece were injured after jumping from the roof of one of the homes. A 13-year-old boy was also reportedly injured after jumping from a roof.
The motive is under investigation, but authorities said the incident appears to be “entirely a domestic incident.”
The deceased children, five girls and three boys, were between the ages of 3 and 11.
“We pray that our loving God receives them into the arms of his mercy and into the joy of his eternal light,” Owensby said.
Owensby has been communicating with Louisiana Bishop Shannon Duckworth, who donated money from the bishop’s fund on the diocese’s behalf to assist with funeral expenses, according to an April 20 Facebook post.
In the same Facebook post, the Diocese of Louisiana, which is based in New Orleans, shared a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer:
“Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding: deal graciously with those who mourn. Surround them with your love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
As of April 21, 118 mass shootings have occurred in the United States; 315 children ages 17 and under have died by gun violence, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an American nonprofit that catalogs every gun-related death in the United States.
“We pray for those who mourn; for those who fear for their children; for families enduring violence and abuse; for those weighed down by despair,” Owensby said. “And we pray for the wisdom and the strength and the courage to work with God’s grace to heal this shattered, aching world. To be instruments of peace and justice and love.”