Newell-Fonda graduate faces spotlight after deadly Muscatine shooting

Anthony “Tony” Kies, a Newell-Fonda graduate with parents in Fonda, became one of the most visible officials in Muscatine’s response after a June 1 shooting that left six victims dead and the suspect dead by suicide. For Buena Vista County readers, the crisis carried a local edge: one of their own was the police chief speaking for a city shaken by multiple homicides and an investigation that reached across several locations.

Muscatine police said the violence began about 12:12 p.m. Monday, June 1, when MUSCOM received a report of a shooting at 210 Park Avenue. Officers and emergency medical personnel were dispatched immediately. When police entered the residence, they found four people with gunshot wounds and later identified the suspect as 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland of Muscatine. Police said McFarland died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after officers confronted him.

The department has described the case as a series of homicides, and multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating. Public identification of the victims came later at a Tuesday night vigil, where police named Lesa McFarland, Dakota Whitlow, Austin Harris, Ryle McFarland, Mark McFarland and Ryan McFarland Jr. Two of the victims were children, ages 16 and 13, underscoring how quickly the violence cut through an entire household and neighborhood.

Kies was already a long-tenured figure in Muscatine before the shooting put him in the national spotlight. City records show he joined the Muscatine Police Department in 2003 and was appointed chief on December 1, 2022. The city also said he graduated from the FBI National Academy on March 13, 2025, becoming the fifth MPD member to complete the program.

In a text to family members, Kies said he never imagined seeing what he saw and added, “There is no training for this.” At the vigil, he spoke to residents gathered in grief and helped frame the response not just as a police matter, but as a community test. His family ties in Fonda, combined with his role atop Muscatine police, have made the aftermath feel especially close to home for northwest Iowa readers watching a familiar name carry the burden of a statewide public-safety crisis.