Louisiana Man Sentenced to 78 Months for Illegally Possessing Gun Used in Mass Shooting That Killed Eight Children
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced that Charles Ray Ford, 56, of Shreveport, was sentenced on October 13 by U.S. District Judge Alexander C. Van Hook to 78 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, followed by three years of supervised release. Ford had pleaded guilty on June 15, 2026.
According to court documents, Ford, a previously convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms, unlawfully possessed a Mossberg pistol between January 2025 and March 2026 after receiving it from an acquaintance. Ford said he kept the pistol under the seat of his truck and knew that Shamar Elkins had taken the firearm from his truck. Investigators later determined that Elkins used the firearm on April 19, 2026, to carry out a mass shooting in Shreveport that claimed the lives of eight children while critically wounding two women. Ford also lied to federal agents about the firearm.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller said the sentence provides some small measure of accountability, and that those whose actions put deadly weapons into the hands of violent felons will face serious consequences.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Louisiana State Police, the Shreveport Police Department, and the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford under case number 5:26-cr-00188, as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Washington 的美国司法部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼。GSM 联邦机构固定图库照片，摄影 APK，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy U.S. Department of Justice Building in Washington. GSM federal fixed image library photo by APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
