A shooting at a state park in eastern Iowa early Friday morning left three people plus the suspect dead, authorities said.
Police were notified of a triple homicide at the Maquoketa Caves State Park campground just before 6:30 a.m., Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation, said in a statement.
According to Mortvedt, after officers located the three bodies, they realized that one camper was unnacounted for.
After searching the area, they found the body of a fourth man, west of the park.
The man was identified as 23-year-old Anthony Orlando Sherwin.
“Sherwin appears to have suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and there is no danger to the public,” Mortvedt said without releasing information about the three victims’ identities or how they died.
The campground was evacuated and the entire park is now closed until further notice.
Camp Shalom, a children’s summer camp nearby, announced on Facebook that all campers and staff were evacuated “as soon as we learned about” the situation. Everybody is accounted for, Shalom officials said.
Located in Jackson County, Maquoketa Caves has been a popular destination for picnickers and hikers since the 1860s, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. With more caves than any state park, it’s one of the state’s top outdoor attractions.
———
