The suspect died after officers found him on a city trail.
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Police identified six members of a Muscatine family killed Monday in shootings across the city, saying a 52-year-old relative fatally shot them before dying by suicide as officers tried to speak with him.
Muscatine Police Chief Tony Kies said the victims were Lisa McFarland, 51; Dakota Whitlow, 32; Austin Harris, 29; Ryle McFarland, 20; Mark McFarland, 16; and Ryan McFarland Jr., 13. The killings shook the Mississippi River city of about 24,000 people and left investigators working through several crime scenes.
Officers first went to a Park Avenue home at about 12:12 p.m. Monday for a report tied to a domestic dispute. They found four people dead from gunshot wounds. Police later found two more men dead at separate sites in Muscatine, one at a home and one inside a business. Kies said all six victims were believed to be relatives of Ryan Willis McFarland, the man police named as the suspect.
Officers later found McFarland on a trail in the city. Kies said police were talking with him when he shot himself. Emergency workers tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have not said what led to the dispute or whether a weapon was recovered. Kies said McFarland had a criminal record, but he did not release details during the initial briefing.
At a vigil Tuesday night, relatives and neighbors gathered at a football field to remember the victims. Johnathan McFarland, a surviving son, spoke to the crowd and said he would miss his mother, sister and brothers. He also said he still loved his father, despite what police say happened. “No matter what is being told to me, I will always love and miss my dad,” he said.
Audrey Perdue, Whitlow’s fiancee, said he was a skilled metal worker and a person with plans that will now go unfinished. “My heart is broken as I grieve for the loss of my fiance and the life that we had planned together,” she said. School officials said the deaths touched the Muscatine Community School District, where two of the victims were students and two were employees.
Police said the investigation remains open. Detectives are processing evidence, reviewing the separate locations and interviewing witnesses. No court case is expected against McFarland because he is dead, but police said they are still building the timeline and trying to answer what happened before the first 911 call.
As of Wednesday, authorities had not released a full motive. The next public update is expected after investigators finish more interviews and crime scene work.
Author note: Last updated June 3, 2026.