5 Dead in Iowa Shooting

Multiple people were shot to death Monday morning in a home on Iowa City's east side, authorities said.

"Yes there are multiple fatalities," said Jessica Lown with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

A statewide police bulletin said authorities were searching for a suspect who was possibly armed.

No details were available on how many people were shot.

The scene was wrapped in crime tape, and an ambulance was in the home's driveway.

"Lots of family needs to be contacted," Iowa City Police Sgt. Troy Kelsay told The Gazette, a Cedar Rapids newspaper.

Kelsay told The Des Moines Register that dispatchers got a call at 6:31 a.m. saying officers needed to get to the address immediately. The caller then hung up.

Students and faculty at the University of Iowa received text and telephone messages warning that there was an active shooter in the Iowa City area. The message said police were looking for a white man in his 40s, driving a 1998 tan Toyota Sienna minivan.

Iowa City schools were under lockdown as a precaution, according to a report from KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids.

Police say they were not able to locate the adult male resident, Steven Suppel. The family's van was missing. He is also scheduled to go on trial next month for stealing about a half-million dollars from the bank where he worked.