Iowa Gunman Kills 6 Family Members Before Shooting Himself: Police

Screenshot via Muscatine Police Department.

A 52-year-old man in Muscatine, Iowa killed six family members before shooting himself, local police said on Monday.

According to a press release by the Muscatine Police Department, a shooting at a residence was reported shortly after noon Central Time, and when officers responded to the scene, they found “four individuals who had sustained gunshot wounds,” and all four “were pronounced deceased at the scene.”

Police identified a suspect as Muscatine resident Ryan Willis McFarland, 52. He had fled the scene and police began a search for him.

Officers soon located McFarland near a pedestrian bridge along the Mississippi River with a self‑inflicted gunshot wound, and provided first aid with EMS personnel, but McFarland “was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the press release stated.

The investigation revealed possible additional victims, and two more adult males were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds, one at a business and one at another residence.

According to the MPD, “[p]reliminary findings indicate the shootings stemmed from a domestic‑related dispute,” and [a]ll victims are believed to be family members of the deceased suspect.

The investigation “remains active and ongoing,” with detectives conducting interviews and processing multiple crime scenes, and the MPD is being assisted by the Muscatine Fire Department, the Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

KWQC in Davenport, Iowa reported that two of the victims were employees of the Muscatine Community School District, and two were currently enrolled as students.

“Today I simply do not have the words — this act of evil and what it has done to our community,” MPD Chief Anthony Kies said during a press conference Monday evening, ABC News reported.

Kies added that police had located McFarland by the pedestrian bridge and while he was talking to police, “he took his own life.”

McFarland has a criminal record, Kies said, but did not provide details. He did say that there was no active threat to the community.

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