Muscatine, Iowa—Community members gathered at a local football field to remember a mother and five siblings who died in a domestic violence incident. Muscatine Police Chief Tony Kies identified the deceased as Lisa McFarland, 51; Dakota Whitlow, 32; Austin Harris, 29; Ryle McFarland, 20; Mark McFarland, 16; and Ryan McFarland Jr., 13.

At the vigil, Johnathan McFarland spoke about his loss. He expressed his love for his family despite the circumstances surrounding their deaths. “No matter what is being told to me, I will always love and miss my dad,” he said.

Audrey Perdue, fiancee of Dakota Whitlow, shared her sorrow. She described Whitlow as a skilled metal worker with unrealized talents and dreams. “My heart is broken as I grieve for the loss of my fiance and the life that we had planned together,” Perdue stated.

Police found four victims at a residence in Muscatine, a city of about 24,000 residents located 50 miles southeast of Cedar Rapids. Officers discovered McFarland on a city trail, where he took his own life during a conversation with them. Two other relatives of McFarland were found shot dead elsewhere in the city, one in a home and another inside a business.

If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. can be reached by calling or texting 988, or visiting 988lifeline.org for online chat support.

Police have confirmed McFarland’s criminal record but have not disclosed further details.

This tragedy marks the sixth family mass killing in the U.S. this year, according to criminologist James Alan Fox. The Associated Press, USA Today, and Northeastern University maintain a database of mass killings that defines them as events in which four or more people are killed in a 24-hour period, excluding the killer. There have been 13 mass killings so far in 2023.