Louisiana man charged with lying to authorities about gun used in mass shooting
NBC News • • nation
Key Points:
- Charles Ford, 56, faces gun charges and allegations of making false statements to federal agents regarding a mass shooting in Shreveport that killed eight children.
- Ford initially denied possessing the Mossberg pistol used by shooter Shamar Elkins but later admitted to owning the gun and believing Elkins stole it from his truck.
- Ford has a criminal history including a 2000 simple robbery conviction and a 2011 guilty plea for domestic abuse battery, which barred him from legally owning firearms.
- Shamar Elkins, a former National Guardsman with a prior illegal firearm conviction, killed seven of his own children and a cousin, injured two women, and died at the scene after fleeing and carjacking a person.
- Authorities are investigating Elkins’ death, which occurred near the shooting scene, with uncertainty whether it was suicide or a police shooting; he had recently sought mental health treatment.
