EVERYONE:
00:00:31
Amen. Thank you very much for coming. Again, I'd like to say good morning to everyone. Yesterday, our community experienced a tragic act of violence that has impacted families, neighbors, that has impacted our entire city. Today, we pause to honor the lives that were lost and the families forever changed. Today, we remember Jayla Elkins, age three; Shayla Elkins, age five; Kayla Pugh, age six; Layla Pugh, age seven; Markaydon Pugh, age 10; Sariahh Snow, age 11; Khedarrion Snow, age six; Braylon Snow, age five, and to all of their families. So before I go on, will you just pause for a minute for a moment of silence as we honor them? Thank you. We lift up the Elkins family, the Pugh family, the Snow family who are facing unmitigable losses. We're also mindful of our survivors, including two women and a 13-year-old child. We ask that you would keep them in your prayers as they continue to recover from their injuries and the uncertain times ahead. Our first priority is to acknowledge the lives affected and to stand with those who are grieving. We recognize the pain felt across our city. We share that sorrow. We want to acknowledge the leadership standing with us today, Mayor Tom Arceneaux, Chief Wayne Smith, Sheriff Whitehorn, Marshall Jefferson. Caddo school superintendent Keith Burden, all of our members of the city council, Councilman Gary Brooks, Councilman Grayson Boucher, Councilwoman Ursula Bowman, Councilwoman Chair Tabatha Taylor, Councilman Jim Taliaferro. This has deeply impacted our families and in our communities. We recognize the grief. We want to pause right now and thank our first responders. In fact, we'd ask that you would pray for them because this is something that would affect them for the rest of their lives. And so we pause and say to them, thank you. Would you be kind enough to give them a great big hand? [APPLAUSE] We join our partners all across this city and the parish. We are grateful for those responders who responded quickly. Again, here we stand with the community. At this time, I want to give some points as to how to cope with situations and giving condolences to all that have been affected. There's an initial shock, which is common. People often feel numb, disbelief right after a tragedy. And being connected to this district for just about 16 years, it is what I would consider a gut-wrenching situation. It takes the wind out of your sail. Emotions can be overwhelming grief, anger, confusion. Sadness may come, and it may go in waves. Support is very important. We thank all of the agencies that showed up on yesterday and is showing up on today. What do you do when life takes an unexpected turn? When life takes an unexpected turn, the goal isn't to fix everything right away. It is to steady yourself enough to move forward, to become grounded. How do we deal with expected tragedies/events? One, you give yourself room to react. You might feel stressed, and it's OK. You might feel angry, but it's OK. Certainly to have a loss, you will feel the pain. But it's OK because today, if we put God first, it will make a difference in our lives. Sometimes, it takes time to adjust, but if we trust God, we'll make it. We've got to lean on people. We've got to lean on resources. At this moment, I might be strong. In the next moment, I might be weak. But we've got to be able to say to somebody, is it OK if I lean on you? Sometimes, we focus on what we cannot control. There come a time that we have to put it all in the Lord's hand. Trust in God in the time of crisis. Crisis has ways of shaking everything about us, our plans, our peace, even our faith. It can come suddenly, bad news, loss, uncertainty, pressures we don't even see coming. The real question is not whether or not crisis will come, but the real question is, how will we respond to the crisis? Take your crisis to God first. Acknowledge who he is. Ask God for specific help. Lead the outcome into the hands of God. Do what you can, but release what you cannot handle. Stop trying to focus on outcome. Rest in God's ability to handle what you cannot. Don't panic. Pray. Don't focus on fear. Focus on God. Don't hold on. Release it and put it into the hands of the Lord, and he will make a difference in your life. As what the word of God has said, if this earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, I believe in my heart that these that died on yesterday are in the presence of the Lord. He says, and we know, that all things work together for the good. We know it. We believe it because our faith is strong. We believe that this situation, even though it's a tragedy, but it's going to bring us together for the good, and we'll be able to give God the glory after it's all over. So at this point in time, we're going to ask that Mayor Tom Arceneaux will come. And after that, Council Chair Tabatha Taylor will come. Thank you, pastor. We stand in difficult times. One of the things that I think is most important is that if you are experiencing abuse and violence in your home, seek the resources. Don't stay where you are. Seek the resources to escape. The biggest lesson that we have is that we must protect those who cannot protect themselves. There are resources available. Take advantage of those resources. We mourn for these children. We mourn for the women who are recovering, we hope. We pray for their recovery and healing, and we ask that the community draw together to give support to these families and these victims. Good morning. On this morning, Satanya Smalls and I, who is an advocate in the Cedar Grove area, had the opportunity to go and speak with some of the family members of the victims that we lost on yesterday. And the family wanted us to express to you all to allow them to grieve and to go through this process because this is not a process that is easy for them by any means. They want to allow the Shreveport Police Department to do their job in this investigation. I also wanted you to know to continue to pray for their families but also wanted you to understand that seven of those children belonged to Mr. Elkins, who took their lives, and one did not. And they wanted to ensure that you all had correct and precise information. This is a difficult, difficult process. And at this point, what they are trying to do is to wrap their mind around what has occurred in their family. How do they navigate through this? So if there's anything that you can do for them right now is to keep them the priority. I'm going to say it again. Keep them the priority, and respect their wishes. Respect their wishes as their loved ones go through surgery. And they're, healing, and they're in a dark place because they don't know how to wrap their minds around all of this. Leave the social-media chatter alone, thinking that you know everything when you do not. The best thing that you can do for them is to allow them to navigate again through this devastating, traumatic process. And from that point, as we respect their wishes as they plan for the burial of the children and the grandchildren, I want you to think about the mothers that are the survivors because there are three mothers at this point-- one is in surgery at this time-- that are going to be faced with immense pain. That's going to need all of us, the community, long-term counseling, the father that is left here to grieve their child. And I want you to remember that, more than anything, because it's people first. It's not your stories. It's not who posted first. Sure, it's them. It's all about them and that as a community, as a nation in this country and for all of the accolades that we have received here, the prayers of support from Canada, from Belgium, that I want you to understand that domestic violence is nobody's joke. It is real, and these are the residual effects of what happens.
