Motive for Maquoketa Caves State Park shooting remains a mystery

The question at the center of an investigation into the killings of three family members — including a 6-year-old girl — at an Eastern Iowa state park campground is: Why?

It's a question that, so far, investigators haven't been able to answer as they look for any connection between the family and the suspected shooter. They have uncovered little to establish a motive, noting they have not turned up any connection between Anthony Sherwin and those they say he killed at Maquoketa Caves State Park. Sherwin was later found dead in a wooded area of the park from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

What police have said is that Sherwin, 23, of the Omaha suburb of La Vista, had no criminal history before the attack, and investigators said he appeared to target the victims at random. The man's parents, who had been camping with their son, expressed incomprehension that he would carry out such an attack.

The shooting happened early Friday when the victims from Cedar Falls were found shot to death in their tent at the campground, about 180 miles east of Des Moines. Police have said Tyler Schmidt, 42; his 42-year-old wife, Sarah Schmidt; and their 6-year-old daughter, Lula Schmidt, all died in the attack.

The couple's 9-year-old son, Arlo, survived without physical injury, but police have not said whether he was in the tent when the shootings happened. Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said Monday that investigators have spoken to the boy but he declined to reveal what was said.

"At this time, there's been nothing discovered as far as anything that precipitated the attack," Mortvedt said.

Sherwin's parents had suggested that he might have heard shots and grabbed a firearm in the family's vehicle for self-protection.

Cecilia Sherwin, his mother, said in an email Saturday to the Omaha-World Herald that they were camping at the park Friday morning when she heard yelling and two gunshots. A young boy ran up to the Sherwin's campsite yelling for help and told her that a man wearing black had shot his family, she said.

Cecilia Sherwin said her son was wearing green, not black, and no black clothing was found there. She also said that they were legally traveling with a gun, which was located in a secure container.

“We think (Anthony) might have sensed trouble and grabbed the gun for safety,” Cecilia Sherwin wrote. “We refuse to believe the news. We are deeply saddened as he had so much to live for and gave us no indication that anything was wrong.”

A review of Nebraska criminal justice records found no signs that Sherwin had a criminal history in the state.

In a second email to the World-Herald, the suspect's mother said she and her family "cooperated fully with the police and investigative team from the get-go."

"I didn't think we had any tears left but we still find ourselves breaking down and care deeply for the little boy and the loss of his family," she said, adding that her son "gave us no warning that he was planning anything of this sort."

She again expressed doubt that he had killed the Schmidts, saying, "Anthony was not capable of this sort of violence," she said.

Mortvedt discounted the theory that Sherwin was not the shooter.

"Without getting into the fine details of it, with everything that we have learned, we are confident that everything we have reported is how it played out and that he is responsible," Mortvedt said.

Autopsies on the Schmidts and Sherwin began Sunday and were continuing Monday, Mortvedt said. Preliminary results may be released Tuesday or Wednesday.

The La Vista Police Department in Nebraska released records Monday showing that it had only one previous contact with Sherwin, when he walked into a police station in July 2017 to report someone had tried to use his insurance to get dental work done in Oklahoma. Sherwin later called police to inform them his insurance company had mistakenly sent him someone else's bill.

Cecilia Sherwin, in a statement emailed to the Associated Press, described her son as kind, sensitive, an exceptional student and an aspiring businessman.

"We just arrived home and are trying to absorb the loss of our son and arriving home without him which is unfathomable," she said.

A relative of Sarah Schmidt established a GoFundMe social media page to raise money “to help Arlo now and to build some savings for his future education.” As of Monday afternoon, nearly $211,000 has been raised.

Barb Ickes of the Quad City Times contributed to this report.