KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A father, mother and their 6-year-old daughter gunned down Friday at a state park in Iowa had previously lived in the Kansas City area, where they made a mark on many.
On Friday night, Cedar Falls, Iowa, NBC affiliate KWWL-TV reported Iowa authorities said Tyler and Sarah Schmidt, 42, and their 6-year-old daughter Lula, were found dead in connection to a shooting around 6 a.m. at a campground at Maquoketa Caves State Park, about an hour north of the Quad Cities.
NBC’s Today show reports the family’s 9-year-old boy Arlo, was also at the campground but survived the attack.
Local NBC affiliate KWQC-TV reported the suspect in the case, identified as Anthony Orlando Sherwin, 23, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Local authorities were not immediately clear of any connection between the family and suspect.
The Associated Press spoke with relatives from Sarah Schmidt, who said that the couple had lived in Lawrence, Kansas, and where she worked with the University of Kansas.
Schmidt’s brother told the Associated Press that Sarah and Tyler were huge KU Jayhawks fans, having lived in Lawrence between 2002-2018.
Tyler’s LinkedIn profile shows he worked as a software engineer at a company in Overland Park.
In 2018, the family left Lawrence and moved to Cedar Falls.
After moving north, the family continued to make their mark in the community. Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green posted to Facebook Friday night that Sarah was active in the community’s library, which was closed Saturday in remembrance of Sarah.
A GoFundMe account has been established for the family’s surviving son Arlo.
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