Six Killed in Iowa Family Shooting Before Gunman Takes Own Life

A man with a prior criminal record shot dead six relatives in Muscatine, Iowa, then killed himself when officers cornered him.

Six Killed in Iowa Family Shooting Before Gunman Takes Own Life

A 52-year-old man with a documented criminal past gunned down six family members at multiple sites in Muscatine, Iowa, then fatally shot himself while police tried to talk him down, local law enforcement reported.

Emergency services received calls about shots fired at a house in Muscatine, a municipality situated about 80 km southeast of Cedar Rapids. Responding officers entered the dwelling and found four bodies, each person killed by bullets, according to Euronews, as relayed by Mediafax.

Investigators named the perpetrator as Ryan Willis McFarland. After tracking him to another spot, police sought to engage him in conversation. Instead of surrendering, McFarland turned his firearm on himself. Muscatine Police Chief Anthony Kies told reporters: "While we were speaking with Ryan Willis McFarland, he took his own life."

Further probing led detectives to two more locations in the same town where two additional male victims lay dead, also from bullet wounds. Officials have withheld complete names and ages of those slain.

The local school district disclosed that the bloodshed struck its community hard. Representatives said two of those killed attended district schools, while two others were employed by the educational system.

McFarland's prior encounters with the justice system stretch back years. In 2012 he admitted guilt in a case involving a child's death through endangerment, which cost him his permit to run a care home. Four years later, courts charged him with tampering with vehicle odometers and imposed damages exceeding USD 58,000.

Law enforcement in Iowa continues piecing together the timeline and what drove McFarland to act. Preliminary findings point toward an internal family conflict, though no exhaustive account of the tragedy has yet been released.

Source: Euronews via G4Media.ro

Source: G4Media