Gunman’s motive in killing 3 at Iowa park remains a mystery

By RYAN J. FOLEY and MARGERY A. BECK
Associated Press

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 by a shooter who later killed himself is: Why? Investigators have said the shooter was a 23-year-old man from eastern Nebraska who had no criminal history and 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 morning, when a couple from Cedar Falls, Iowa, and their 6-year-old daughter were found shot to death in their tent at the Maquoketa Caves State Park Campground. The couple’s 9-year-old son survived the shooting without physical injury.