(Headline USA) A 9-year-old boy who was camping at an Iowa state park with his parents and 6-year-old sister survived a shooting that killed the rest of his family.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety identified the victims as Tyler Schmidt, 42; his 42-year-old wife, Sarah Schmidt; and their 6-year-old daughter, Lula Schmidt, all of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Their bodies were found in their tent early on July 22 at the Maquoketa Caves State Park Campground, about 180 miles east of Des Moines.
Authorities said the suspected gunman, 23-year-old Anthony Sherwin, was found dead on July 22 in a wooded area of the park with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Department of Public Safety’s division of criminal investigation, told The Associated Press on July 23 that the motive for the attack was still unknown.
“We don’t know what led up to this, what precipitated it,” he said, adding that so far, “the investigation has not revealed any early interaction between the Schmidt family and him.”
Adam Morehouse, Sarah Schmidt’s brother, said the family had no connection to Sherwin and he believed it was a “completely random act.”
Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green, who said he is a neighbor of the Schmidts, posted on Facebook on July 22 that the couple’s 9-year-old son, Arlo, “survived the attack, and is safe.”
Morehouse confirmed Arlo was on the family’s camping trip, but said he did not know exactly where the boy was at the time of the shooting or know specifics about how it unfolded.
“He is with family and he is OK, but I have not had any interaction with him,” Morehouse said on July 23. “As far as I know, he was uninjured physically.”
By the evening of July 23, more than $75,000 had flowed into a GoFundMe page created for Arlo.
The page, organized by a cousin, Beth Shapiro, said: “Arlo is a strong boy, surrounded by family and friends who are supporting him as best we can.” The page says the fund will help Arlo now, and help fund his future education.
The Des Moines Register reported that Sherwin was from La Vista, Nebraska. La Vista Police Chief Bob Lausten told the newspaper that Sherwin lived in an apartment complex with his parents and had no history of criminal conduct.
“The best way to describe all four of them was the quintessential Midwestern family. They gave everybody everything they possibly could,” Morehouse said.
“They loved family… They enjoyed the outdoors, enjoyed the hiking — and this is just a question mark of ‘Why that campground and that campsite on that night?’”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press