Two parents and their 6-year-old daughter were fatally shot Friday at an Iowa state park, but their 9-year-old son survived the attack, officials said.
The suspected shooter was also found in the park dead from an apparent self-inflicted wound, authorities said.
Investigators are still working to establish the connection between the victims and the suspect in the triple homicide that happened just before 6:30 a.m. Friday at Maquoketa Caves State Park in Jackson County.
Law enforcement agencies respond to a fatal shooting at Maquoketa Caves State Park in Jackson County, Iowa, July 22, 2022.
WQAD
Responding officers found the bodies of the three victims in their campsite. While canvassing and evacuating the area, officers learned there was a registered camper at the park who was missing, authorities said.
“They noted that there was an unknown camper who they believed may have been armed,” Special Agent Mike Krapfl of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation told ABC affiliate WQAD in Moline, Illinois. “They searched the area for that person and then later, around 11am, we found a deceased person in the park.”
DCI has identified the suspect as Anthony Orlando Sherwin, 23. The agency does not have any information on a motive, DCI Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt told ABC News Saturday.
There is believed to be no ongoing risk to the public and Maquoketa Caves State Park is closed until further notice, officials said.
DCI identified the victims Friday night as Tyler Schmidt and Sarah Schmidt, both 42, and Lula Schmidt, 6. The family is from Cedar Falls.
Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green said he was “devastated” after hearing the news.
“I knew Sarah well and she and her family were regular walkers here in the Sartori Park neighborhood,” he said in a statement on Facebook.
Green said the family’s 9-year-old son, Arlo, survived the attack “and is safe.” No further details were provided.
Asked about the boy, Mortvedt said the DCI is not releasing any additional information at this time on the case.
“The mayor has not received any information from law enforcement, nor is he privileged to have it,” Mortvedt said.
Maquoketa Caves State Park, located in Jackson County, Iowa, is pictured on July 22, 2022.
WQAD
Sarah Schmidt was an employee at the Cedar Falls Public Library, Green said. The library closed Saturday after the tragedy to allow its colleagues to grieve, he said.
Green said more details will be forthcoming about services and other memorials planned for the family.
“Please offer extra mercy to the many friends, neighbors and co-workers of the Schmidt family as we try to process this terrible tragedy,” he said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said on Twitter that she was “appalled” by the shooting and “devastated by the loss of three innocent lives.”
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which maintains state parks, said its officials are working with law enforcement on the investigation.
“Our long-standing tradition of enjoying Iowa’s natural wonders was shaken today, but the legacy for the millions of families who vacation in Iowa’s state parks will live on,” Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon said in a statement Friday . “This heartbreaking incident affects the DNR family; not only as people who are passionate about getting people outside, but as people who regularly camp with our families in these same parks.”
The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office will perform autopsies on the three victims and the results will be released, the DCI said. The state medical examiner will perform an autopsy on the suspect.
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