Today is
Thursday June 04, 2026
TATUM — Six people have been hospitalized following an electrical explosion at a power plant in Tatum on Monday afternoon. According to our news partner KETK, the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office said, the explosion identified as an arc flash, occurred around 2:30 p.m. at the Martin Lake Power Plant. An arc flash is an electrical explosion caused when electricity jumps through the air, releasing extreme heat and pressure.
Following the incident, two people were airlifted to the hospital for severe injuries, while another four people were taken by vehicle to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The plant has returned to normal operations and the cause of the explosion is expected to be investigated by OSHA
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A stunned Louisiana city struggled to come to grips Monday with the massacre of eight children carried out by a father who was separating from his wife and used an assault-style weapon despite a 2019 felony firearms conviction.
The violence reverberated across Shreveport a day after one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings in recent years. Schools brought in counselors for the victims’ young classmates and neighbors grieved at a growing memorial. Community leaders called for a city-wide reckoning about how to stop domestic violence.
“We can not afford to wait until the next crisis,” said Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry Whitehorn. “This is the responsibility of all of us. We owe it to the eight children who were lost.”
The shooter, identified as Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his children and another child, police said. His wife also was shot and wounded.
His wife’s sister, who called police minutes after the shooting started, escaped with a child by jumping from the roof, police and family members said Monday.
“She said she was running for her life,” said Lionel Pugh, an uncle of the two women shot. “The only ones he didn’t kill was the ones who got away.”
Elkins died after fleeing and a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him. It was not clear whether he was killed by officers or from a self-inflicted gunshot, Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.
Officials said the children who died — three boys and five girls — ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old.
Elkins and his wife, identified by family members as Shaneiqua Elkins, were separating and had been due in court Monday, said Crystal Brown, a cousin of a woman shot in the attack. She said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.
Family members described Shaneiqua Elkins as a doting mother, who celebrated her children’s success in school and carefully dressed them before family events.
“She raised those kids right,” Pugh said. “They were the center of her universe.”
Gunman had no recent arrests for domestic violence, police say
While the shooter did not appear to have an extensive criminal history, court records showed Elkins was placed on probation in 2019 after pleading guilty to illegal use of weapons. In that case, Elkins fired five rounds at a vehicle and told police that someone inside it had pulled a gun on him, according to a police report.
Based on Louisiana law, a person convicted of certain violent felonies — including illegal use of weapons — are banned from having a gun for at least 10 years after completing their sentence and probation.
Investigators were not aware of other domestic violence issues involving Elkins, said police spokesperson Chris Bordelon.
Elkins had served in the Louisiana National Guard from 2013 to 2020 as a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist, said guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Noel Collins. Elkins held the rank of private and had no deployments, Collins said.
The violence started before sunrise Sunday
Authorities said the shooting erupted before dawn at two homes.
Elkins shot a woman in a neighborhood south of downtown and a few blocks away at a home where the children were found, police said. Elkins’ nephew was among the slain children, according to the Caddo Parish coroner’s office.
Mourners lit candles for the victims Sunday night in a nearby parking lot.
“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them because you just don’t know,” said Kimberlin Jackson, who attended the vigil and is an advocate at the Head Start program where one of the victims was a student. She said the last time she saw him was Friday.
A relative says they were a joyful family
Francine Monro Brown, a cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she would often see the children playing in the yard on Sunday mornings when she drove past the house on her way to church.
“Happy children, joyful children. Shaneiqua is a great mother, She provided a great home for the kids,” Brown said as she stood near a growing memorial of stuffed teddy bears, flowers and pink and blue balloons.
Betty Pugh, another cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she was always with her children. “That was the way we were taught: to love our kids, to take care of our kids. And that’s what she did,” Pugh said.
The mayor of Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 residents in northwestern Louisiana, called it one of the city’s worst days.
The shooting was the deadliest in the U.S. since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
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TYLER – Saturday’s hailstorm may be over, but the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says another danger is rolling in behind it: opportunistic “storm chasers.”
The BBB advises residents to be cautious of storm chasers who arrive unannounced and offer to repair storm damage at a low cost. Be wary of those who require advance payment or make extravagant promises they have no intention of fulfilling.
Here are some homeowner safety tips from the BBB:
*Vet the contractor carefully: Confirm they meet state and local requirements, ensure licenses are current and check BBB.org for reputable options.
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AUSTIN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) – Texas communities will need to spend $174 billion in the next 50 years to avert a severe water crisis, a new state analysis revealed Thursday. That’s more than double the $80 billion projected four years ago, when the Texas Water Development Board last passed a state water plan.
The three-member board presiding over the agency authorized the highly anticipated draft blueprint Thursday, the first administrative step toward adopting the water development board’s plans for the next 50 years. The plan, released every five years, encompasses the projects that 16 regional water planning groups in Texas said are the most urgent, water development board officials said.
The board’s latest estimates come as the state’s water supply faces numerous threats. Growing communities across Texas are scrambling to secure water, keep up with construction costs and cope with a yearslong drought. This week, Corpus Christi officials said the city may be just months away from declaring a water emergency. Meanwhile, other rural cities by the Coastal Bend are rapidly drilling wells to avoid a crisis. Residents in North Texas have also been bracing for groundwater shortages.
In an effort to restrain the crisis, lawmakers last year called an election in which voters approved a $20 billion boost for communities to use on water-related expenses. The water development board’s estimate shows that what lawmakers proposed on the ballot falls dramatically short of the needed cash, experts said.
“What this number tells me at the end of the day is if we don’t get serious about (funding water projects), there are going to be serious consequences for Texas,” said Perry Fowler, executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network. “Even with the billion-dollar-a-year plan kicking in, it’s not going to be enough to offset the costs of the projects that are going to have to be executed.”
The new estimate accounts for 3,000 projects, from regional infrastructure upgrades to smaller endeavors such as drilling new water wells. Texas’ water supplies are expected to drop by roughly 10% between 2030 and 2080, according to the water plan. In that same time frame, the maximum amount of water communities can draw is also expected to decline by 9%.
The 80-page plan notes approximately 6,700 recommended strategies that would add water to the state’s dwindling portfolio. The recommendations — which are not accounted for in the cost — include developing new supplies from aquifer storage and recovery, brackish groundwater, desalination and recycled water. It also calls for water conservation.
The report suggested that if Texas does not implement the plans and recommendations, the state is one severe drought away from an estimated $91 billion in economic damages in 2030.
The state’s plan attributes a variety of reasons for the bigger price tag, such as higher costs of construction due to inflation, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains, and a growing backlog of water supply projects.
“There’s a plan that can meet our needs,” said Matt Nelson, deputy executive administrator for the Office of Planning at the water development board, adding that they take their cues from the regional planning groups. “These are local projects that folks need to implement; they’re needed regardless of how they’re funded. It’s important to remember these are not top-down projects or state projects.”
Experts told The Texas Tribune that the board’s estimate is only a fraction of what Texas communities will need to ensure they have water in 50 years’ time, saying growth and development are outpacing the state’s ability to keep up.
“This is a bigger water plan in terms of volume strategies and capital costs compared to anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Jeremy Mazur, the director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at think tank Texas 2036.
Mazur suggested that the $174 billion only covers water supply projects and does not account for updating aging infrastructure, adding that the actual price could amount to a quarter of a trillion dollars.
“There’s a substantial magnitude with regard to the capital investment needed to both fix our aging and current systems and potentially develop the water infrastructure, water supply projects that we need.“
The report largely confirmed what many water experts have warned regarding threats to the state’s water supply, said Sarah Kirkle, director of policy at the Texas Water Association.
“Population growth, extreme weather, and economic development needs are all increasing demands on our infrastructure, and the state is going to need more water, sooner,” Kirkle said. “This is all while water projects are becoming more costly and complex because the easiest and cheapest local projects have already been developed.”
Fowler, with the infrastructure network, said he expects the Texas Legislature to take up the issue next year, when lawmakers meet for the 90th legislative session. He said the state should take a bigger role in ensuring that communities can afford their respective water projects.
“It’s going to have to be a top-down priority, there’s no way around it,” he said. “The challenges are so immense that it’s going to take all hands on deck.”
Texas residents have until the end of May to comment on the proposal. Water development board officials must adopt it by January 2027.
Alejandra Martinez contributed to this story. To see the story in its original form to The Texas Tribune.
TYLER – The Better Business Bureau in Tyler collected thousands of documents and devices from East Texans on Saturday during their annual Shred Day event.
The annual collection event usually sees between 500 to 800 cars drive up but in just their first hour of collections on Saturday the Better Business Bureau (BBB) saw over 200 cars roll up with documents. The BBB said it’s all being done to protect the identities of East Texans.
“We want to make sure that we are helping people protect their identity. Identity theft happens every 4.9 seconds in this country and so we want to remind people that we need to be secure and make sure that our documents are shredded securely,” Mechele Mills with BBB of Central East Texas said.
The Better Business Bureau’s annual event also takes old computers, hard drives and cell phones to be destroyed and recycled. To learn more, visit the Better Business Bureau online.
HAWKINS – People living in Hawkins will vote for a new mayor following political conflict, lawsuit and the arrest of their current mayor.
In the past two years, the City of Hawkins has seen major changes under the current mayor, Debbie Rushing.
“I decided to run for mayor because I’ve noticed things happening in the city in the years that I’ve been here and I raised children here, so it became an important thing for me,” Hawkins’ mayoral candidate, Kayla Ross, said.
Since Rushing’s election in 2024, the city has fired its city judge, shut down the police department, and seen Rushing arrested.
Now, the future of leadership could all change at the ballot box on May 2.
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SHREVEPORT (NEXSTAR AP) — Eight children are dead following a shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, authorities have confirmed. The suspect is also dead, after being fatally shot by police, and investigators are now reviewing multiple crime scenes. Police were initially called to a shooting that happened just after 6 a.m. on Sunday, Christopher Bordelon with the Shreveport Police Department said during a morning press conference.
Shreveport Police say eight children, ranging in ages from 1 to 14 years old, were killed, and two other individuals were injured.
The suspect allegedly stole a vehicle after the shooting and was fatally shot by Shreveport Police officers following a pursuit that extended into Bossier Parish. No officers were harmed in the shooting, which is now under investigation by Louisiana State Police.
Some of the children shot were related to the suspect, according to Bordelon. Officials said they were still gathering details about the crime scene, which extended across three residential locations.
“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” Smith added.
Police say they do not yet have a motive but described the incident as a domestic disturbance.
“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” Mayor Tom Arceneaux said during Sunday’s press conference. “It’s a terrible morning in Shreveport, and we all mourn with the victims.”
Louisiana State Police are asking for anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken. “We’re deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene,” he added.
This was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
LONGVIEW – LeTourneau University staff and students gathered in Longview on Friday to break ground on their new Christian Polytechnic University Center. According to our news partner KETK, the new 100,000-square-foot center will be a four-story building that will house more than 25 labs and spaces for the university’s engineering, business and computer science programs.
“There’s been a lot of work, actually many years, to get us to this point,” LeTourneau University President Dr. Steven D. Mason said. “The vision for this building at LeTourneau University, as the Christian Polytechnic University, has been in the making for several years to make it a space and a place that would embody everything that we hope for at an institution like ours.”
The new center is all a part of the university’s Build With Purpose campaign, where university donors are funding projects all across their campus.
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TYLER – Workforce Solutions East Texas completed moving into a new expanded workforce center on South Beckham Avenue this week. According to our news partner KETK, the new 28,500-square-foot facility will continue to provide Workforce Solutions’ free job recruitment and employment services but at a greater capacity than ever before.
“We’re excited to offer employers and prospective employees a tremendous facility. It allows ample space for recruitment of skilled workers, interviewing, training, enhancing respected skills, and receiving the resources necessary to become valued, long-term assets to the Tyler business community and the surrounding area. I believe employers will see this facility as a force multiplier to ongoing work in building their businesses. Employees will see this as a critical link between their hard work in preparation and the job in which they’ll excel. Together, we’ll set the stage for the next generation in Tyler’s economic development,” Workforce Solutions East Texas’ Executive Director, Doug Shryock said.
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TYLER – Just days after the abrupt closure of Painted Tree Boutique locations, including one in Tyler, many vendors are now searching for new ways to sell their products, with some turning to creative community-driven solutions to stay afloat.
According to our news partner KETK, Heather Watson, a booth owner and marketing and business growth consultant said,“It’s crazy how much has happened just within a couple of days,”
Watson, like many others, rushed to retrieve her merchandise amid uncertainty about access to the building.
“Initially, it was just that urgent sense of, I need to get out there, I need to get my things out. I don’t know if the door is going to get locked,” Watson said.
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HENDERSON – A man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child in Henderson County. According to our news partner KETK, the Henderson County District Attorney announced on Friday that Dwight Hugh Fitzpatrick received two 40-year sentences for aggravated sexual assault of a child. This comes after more than two years since the investigation began when a child told her grandmother that she had been sexually assaulted.
“We worked closely with the family of the young victim to ensure her needs were our first priority,” DA Jenny Palmer said. “Members of her family appeared in court wearing pink, her favorite color, and expressed their gratitude that she did not have to testify. Representatives from Maggie’s House, along with a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, were also present during the plea.”
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LINDALE – The Lindale ISD community is in mourning after a Velma Penny Elementary school student died earlier this week. According to our news partner KETK, in a statement from the district, parents were informed of the student’s passing, but additional information on their death isn’t being shared to respect their family and confidentiality laws.
Lindale ISD said on Wednesday that a student at Velma Penny Elementary was transported to the hospital after they had a medical emergency at the school.
Counseling has been made available to students and staff who need support following the student’s death.
TYLER – Early Voting for the May 2 City-School Elections ends today. There are several city and school elections, including a special-called bond election for Tyler Junior College.
The cities of Tyler, Hideaway, Lindale and Winona; and the independent school districts of Lindale and Tyler District 4 are having elections. The City of Lindale is also holding a special election for a charter amendment.
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