IA - Tyler, Sarah, and Lula Schmidt Killed at Maquoketa Caves State Park Campsite, 2022 *killer dead*

[RickshawFan]

Were the parents and the 6 year old child found in their tent, shot to death?
If so, was the nine year old also in the tent, when the shootings happened?
And if he wasn't in the tent with the rest of his family, where was he? And, what was he doing while the shootings took place?

What did he see?
What does he know?

This poor little boy.

I think many of us are asking these questions, but right now, there don't seem to be answers. Recall, it happened right before a weekend, it's summer, people are short-staffed, etc., so although we might usually get information quickly, there are many reasons for slooooooow in this case. Besides, I'm sure investigators are having a hard time wrapping their heads around this, there may be privacy issues, etc.

 

[fred&edna]

Why would a man knock on a men's room door?

Maybe it was a single stall that locked/latched from inside?

 

[pixiepixel]

Maybe it was a single stall that locked/latched from inside?

Most restrooms at campgrounds are, in my experience.

 

[realanastasia]

@pixiepixel That is my interpretation as well.

I imagine that perhaps AS's parents awoke early (pre-6:30 AM), realized their son was not with them/in their tent, and immediately started looking for him with an urgency similar to the one you would expect parents to feel if their 6-year old child were missing rather than a 23-year old young man. To me, this seems to imply that the parents of AS immediately KNEW something was amiss when they woke up and found he had left their tent/campsite.

Also, given the parents' repeated insistence that the firearm was in a "secure container," it seems designed to stave off criticism that they (maybe psychically, but probably not) anticipated they would receive if *something bad* were to happen involving their gun.

If the father, mother, and son were all comfortable with firearms and/or knew how to safely use them, for what purpose would they have felt the need to keep the firearm in a "secure container"? Is there a law that you have to have your gun in a "secure container" in a vehicle? I would imagine not.

 

[RickshawFan]

Maybe it was a single stall that locked/latched from inside?

But the 16 year-old camper was in there.....

 

[realanastasia]

But the 16 year-old camper was in there.....

Right. The 16-year old was inside the stall and the parents of AS (or one of them) knocked on the stall and asked if AS was the occupant. One presumes the 16-year old said no, and the parent(s) left to look for AS elsewhere.

 

[RickshawFan]

Maybe it was a single stall that locked/latched from inside?

Usually a bunch of single stalls, sometimes shower stalls, and then some sinks.

 

[RickshawFan]

Right. The 16-year old was inside the stall and the parents of AS (or one of them) knocked on the stall and asked if AS was the occupant. One presumes the 16-year old said no, and the parent(s) left to look for AS elsewhere

Maybe guys don't look at the shoes of the person in the stall? lol I guess women do this quite a bit to figure out if there's a vacant stall.

 

[RickshawFan]

Right. The 16-year old was inside the stall and the parents of AS (or one of them) knocked on the stall and asked if AS was the occupant. One presumes the 16-year old said no, and the parent(s) left to look for AS elsewhere

I read the details a little differently (my understanding was "bathroom door" and not "stall door"), but I have to say, this whole bathroom thing is WEIRD.

 

[Vail]

Going out on a limb to guess the perp is neurodivergent in some way.

 

[fred&edna]

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

"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 on Monday, Mortvedt said.

The La Vista Police Department in Nebraska released records Monday showing that it had only one prior 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.


Suspected gunman's motive in Iowa park killings a mystery

 

[Knox]

No, so far there hasn't been any indiction that anything like that happened. It's so totally bewilderingly...random.

Thank you Carbuff

 

[realanastasia]

From the article shared by @fred&edna :

“Sherwin's mother, 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. “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.”

 

[realanastasia]

Iowa DCI says there's no indication prior incident led to Maquoketa shooting

Police are saying the shooting appears to be random. Sherwin had no contact with the people he killed before the shooting.

www.kcci.com

Snipped and bolded by me:

“Police say Sherwin had no contact with the people he killed before the shooting, police said.

Adam Morehouse, the brother of Sarah Schmidt, says the family did not know the attacker at all.

"We didn't know the suspect. The suspect didn't know us. We don't know of any interaction that occurred. It was simply this individual woke up this morning and decided to pick a tent and walk into that tent where my sister and her family were sleeping and never got a chance to wake up," Morehouse told WHBF-TV.

The family says they're prepared to accept that some questions will go unanswered. That includes why the suspect would carry out such an attack.

"I'm sure we're all going to end up processing it in due time our own way. And for right now, we're able to basically deal with it however we possibly can," Morehouse said.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said Sherwin's parents are cooperating with the investigation. They are from La Vista, Nebraska, an Omaha suburb. Sherwin lived with them.

DCI said they are working to find out why this happened.

"Sometimes, motives aren't revealed, so to say, or discovered. And at this time, we don't have any information that would lead us to a motive in this," Iowa DCI Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt said.

Police in La Vista did go to his house for a welfare check Friday, but his parents were not home.”

I’m confused about the bolded part. Why would police in Nebraska go to the Sherwin residence for a “welfare check”? When did they do this welfare check? If they visited the Sherwin residence before the murders of the Schmidts at the campground in Iowa, then there was likely something (like an online post, text message, phone call…?) that caused someone close to the Sherwins to request the family be checked on.

If the welfare check happened AFTER the murders of the Schmidts, all I can guess is that the Sherwins might’ve been expected home at a certain time, and when they did not arrive as expected, friends/neighbor/family members asked for the welfare check? Or, alternatively, if AS was on leave from a residential program and had been expected to check in (or return) when the camping trip ended, a welfare check might've been requested by someone from that program when he failed to do so?

 

[realanastasia]

Also, this passage makes me think AS was perhaps somewhat paranoid or intellectually challenged (or, I guess, naive?):

“The La Vista Police Department in Nebraska released records Monday showing that it had only one prior 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.”

In 2017 AS would’ve been 17 or 18 years old, which IMO is old enough to be able to calmly reason through this situation (by calling the insurance company, for a start!) before jumping to the conclusion that he’d been the victim of identity theft and asking the local police to get involved.

 

[fred&edna]

From the article shared by @fred&edna :

“Sherwin's mother, 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. “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.”

Thank you for posting more from the news report. I can't ever remember WS copyright restrictions... I always feel better when someone else helps out.

 

[HMSHood]

I would not be surprised if Anthony O. Sherwin is an injustice collector or grudge hoarder. They often commit heinous crimes.

 

[katydid23]

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

"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 on Monday, Mortvedt said.

The La Vista Police Department in Nebraska released records Monday showing that it had only one prior 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.


Suspected gunman's motive in Iowa park killings a mystery

I am pretty sure they checked the perps weapon to see if it was the same weapon used on the innocent family. If so, there is little to no question that he was the shooter, imo.

 

[Knox]

Also, this passage makes me think AS was perhaps somewhat paranoid or intellectually challenged (or, I guess, naive?):

“The La Vista Police Department in Nebraska released records Monday showing that it had only one prior 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.”

In 2017 AS would’ve been 17 or 18 years old, which IMO is old enough to be able to calmly reason through this situation (by calling the insurance company, for a start!) before jumping to the conclusion that he’d been the victim of identity theft and asking the local police to get involved.

I don't think we've heard the true history of this young man yet. The story you shared is a start, IMO.

 

[katydid23]

From the article shared by @fred&edna :

“Sherwin's mother, 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. “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.”

He was an exceptional student? I wonder what he was studying and how far he got ?