Three family members were shot 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 a 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 fatally shot in a tent at the campground, said the department’s assistant director, Mitch Mortvedt.
The three victims are related, Mortvedt said. He did not explain their relationship or give a motive for the murders.
Later Friday evening, the Iowa Department of Public Safety identified the victims as Tyler Schmidt, 42; Sarah Schmidt, 42; and Lulu Schmidt, 6. 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 Fraser/Quad City Times via AP
Officials immediately evacuated everyone from the park, the children’s summer camp on the grounds and the campground. After the evacuation was complete, the only registered camper who was unaccounted for was 23-year-old Anthony Sherwin, Mortvedt said.
“He was known to be armed. This, of course, raised our awareness as well,” said Mortved. Iowa allows people with permits to carry firearms virtually anywhere in the state. Authorities did not say whether the suspected shooter had a permit.
Using an airplane 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 is from Nebraska, and investigators do not believe he had any prior relationships with the victims, Mortvedt said.
Mortvedt said he could not say whether the suspected shooter had a criminal record. A search of online court records in Nebraska and Iowa yielded no records of prior criminal conduct.
Autopsies on the suspected shooter and the victims were to be performed over the weekend, Mortvedt said, and more information will likely be released based on those findings.
The park, which remained closed Friday, is about 50 miles east of Cedar Rapids.
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