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The three victims of a shooting at an Iowa campground Friday were a mother, father and son, according to law enforcement and local officials.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation identified them as Tyler and Sarah Schmidt, both 42, and their daughter Lula, 6, of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The Schmidts’ 9-year-old son, Arlo, “survived the attack and is safe,” Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green wrote in a Facebook post.
Police were “notified of a triple homicide” Friday morning at the Maquoketa Caves State Park campground in eastern Iowa. Officers found the three victims and, after a brief search, the body of Anthony Orlando Sherwin, 23, the suspect in the killings who apparently shot himself, police said.
3 people killed in Iowa state park shooting; The shooter has also died, according to police
The state medical examiner is to perform autopsies on the victims as well as Sherwin, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said. A reason was still unclear.
Green said he was “devastated” by the Schmidts’ deaths, noting they were “regular walkers here in the Sartori Park neighborhood” of Cedar Falls, a city of 40,000. She remembered Sarah Schmidt as “a beloved library employee” at the Cedar Falls Public Library, where Green invited neighbors and friends to leave cards and memories in honor of the family.
As of Saturday afternoon, a GoFundMe fundraiser for Arlo Schmidt had garnered more than 2,000 donations worth more than $100,000. “Arlo is a strong boy, surrounded by family and friends who support him in any way we can,” said fundraiser organizer Beth Shapiro, who said she was Sarah Schmidt’s cousin.
Adam Morehouse, Sarah Schmidt’s brother, told the Associated Press that the family had no connection to Sherwin and believed it was a “completely random act.” Morehouse confirmed that Arlo was on the family camping trip, but said he did not know exactly where the boy was at the time of the shooting.
The state park was closed after the shooting, which also forced the evacuation of the Camp Shalom children’s camp.
Known as a destination for cavers and hikers, Maquoketa Caves State Park has more caves than any other state park in Iowa. About 61 miles northeast of Cedar Rapids, the park has 13 caves, including Dancehall Cave, which is about 800 feet long, according to its website.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said in a statement that she was “horrified by this morning’s shooting at Maquoketa Caves State Park and devastated by the loss of three innocent lives.”
Timothy Bella contributed to this report.