Muscatine (Iowa)(National Times)- A gunman killed six members of his family, then took his own life, during a spate of shootings on Monday in the eastern Iowa city of Muscatine, a waterfront town situated across the Mississippi River from Illinois, police said.

A preliminary investigation into the gun violence indicated the shootings “stemmed from a domestic-related dispute,” the Muscatine Police Department said in a statement, although no mention was made of precisely what may have precipitated the bloodshed.

Four of the victims were found shot to death inside a residence by police officers responding to the first reports of gunfire shortly after noon local time.

Although the suspected killer had fled the scene before officers arrived, he was quickly identified as Ryan Willis McFarland, 52, of Muscatine, and was located on the city’s riverfront trail near a pedestrian bridge, Police Chief Anthony Kies said during a news briefing. While officers were talking with him, he took his own life, police said.