An armed man killed six members of his family and then committed suicide during a shooting on Monday in the city of Muscatine in eastern Iowa, USA, a riverfront town located across the Mississippi River from Illinois, police reported, according to UNN citing Reuters.
Details
A preliminary investigation into the gun violence indicated that the shooting "stemmed from a domestic dispute," the Muscatine Police Department said in a statement, though it did not mention exactly what might have triggered the bloodshed.
Four victims were found shot dead in a residential building by police officers responding to initial reports of gunfire shortly after noon local time.
Although the murder suspect fled the scene before officers arrived, he was quickly identified as 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland of Muscatine and was located on the city's riverfront near a pedestrian bridge, Police Chief Anthony Kies said during a press briefing.
While officers were speaking with him, he committed suicide, police said.
After information emerged indicating possible other victims, police discovered the bodies of two other men believed to have been shot by McFarland – one in a nearby house and another in a commercial building.
All victims are believed to be members of the shooter's family, Kies said. Their identities have not been released. ABC News reported that at least two of the victims were children.
The police chief told reporters that McFarland had a criminal record but declined to provide details.
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