Three family members were shot and killed while camping at a state park in eastern Iowa on Friday, and the suspected gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Officers responded to reports of the shooting at the Maquoketa Caves State Park campground before 6:30 a.m. Friday, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a statement.
Officers found three people shot to death in a tent at the campsite, said the division’s Deputy Chief Mitch Mortvedt.
All three victims were related, Mortvedt said. He did not explain how they were related or provide a motive for the killings.
Later Friday night, the Iowa Department of Public Safety identified the victims as Tyler Schmidt, 42; Sarah Schmidt, 42; and Lulu Schmidt, 6 years old. The department said they all lived in Cedar Falls, which is about two hours northwest of the state park.
An Iowa State Patrol trooper walks past a sign at Maquoketa Caves State Park as police investigate a fatal shooting on July 22, 2022 in Maquoketa, Iowa. Nikos Frazier/Quad City Times via AP
Officials immediately evacuated everyone from the park, a children’s summer camp on the grounds and the camp. After the evacuation was complete, the only registered camper who wasn’t accounted for was Anthony Sherwin, 23, Mortvedt said.
“He was known to be armed. That, of course, raised our awareness as well,” Mortvedt said. Iowa allows permit holders to carry firearms virtually anywhere in the state. Officials did not say whether the suspected gunman had a permit.
Using a plane to help search the area, law enforcement later found Sherwin dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area of the park. He was from Nebraska and investigators do not believe he had any prior relationship with the victims, Mortvedt said.
Mortvedt said he could not say whether the alleged gunman had a criminal record. An online court records search in Nebraska and Iowa produced no record of prior criminal behavior.
Autopsies on the suspected gunman and the victims were scheduled to be performed over the weekend, Mortvedt said, and more information would likely be released based on those findings.
The park, which remained closed Friday, is about 50 miles east of Cedar Rapids.