A gunman killed a sixth-grade student and injured five others at a high school in Perry, Iowa, early Thursday morning as students returned to school after their winter break.
Four of the injured were students and one was an administrator, Mitch Mortvedt, deputy director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said at a news conference Thursday. One of the injured victims was in critical condition.
The administrator was identified by the Easton Valley Community School District as Dan Marburger, the principal of Perry High School, where the shooting occurred. Authorities have not released the names of any other victims.
The shooter, identified as Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student at the high school, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mortvedt said. Law enforcement believes he acted alone and said the motive for the attack is not yet known.
In Perry, a town of 8,000 about 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Des Moines, the shooting sent parents rushing to schools, businesses closing their doors early and, in the evening, residents are gathered for candlelight vigils.
Hundreds of people gathered in the cold at a park Thursday evening, where ministers led the group in prayer and residents shared their stories of what happened that day. A high school student told the crowd that she heard the gunshots that morning and thought they were the sounds of balloons popping. Another commenter said she knew the student who was killed, “an amazing little boy, and he was the sweetest.”
Laura Espinoza, 38, an educator at Perry Elementary School, said she knew Mr. Marburger, the principal who was shot. He was affable, friendly and eager to get to know his students, she said.
“I often feel like you’re saying the principal is a very serious authority figure, which he is, but he’s also a person you can hear a joke from,” she said . “Or you could tell a joke and he’d laugh about it.”
Ms. Espinoza said that when school was closed that day, she went into “panic mode,” trying to protect her students while being frantic for the safety of her own children.
“You just don’t imagine it will happen to you,” she said. “I feel like we come into these trainings ready to learn, but hoping you never have to use it.”
The shooting happened just as the school day was starting. Authorities said calls about a person with a gun at Perry High School began coming in just after 7:30 a.m. and emergency responders arrived about seven minutes later at the school.
The attack took place before classes started, Mr. Mortvedt said at a breakfast program for students in multiple grades where the high school and middle school share a campus.
He said when law enforcement arrived on scene, they found several victims with gunshot wounds, as well as students and faculty sheltering in place and fleeing the school.
They also found a “rudimentary” improvised explosive, Mr. Mortvedt said, and agents from the State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “returned the “safe device”.
The shooter was armed with a shotgun and a small-caliber handgun, Mr. Mortvedt said. He also made “a number of social media posts around the time of the shooting,” which law enforcement is investigating, Mr. Mortvedt said.
About 150 law enforcement officers responded to the scene, Mortvedt said.
Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a news conference Thursday that the shooting “has shaken us to our core” and acknowledged the “incredible coordination” of local, state and federal agencies.
The victims’ families «need your thoughts and prayers and time and space to process and grieve,» Chief Eric Vaughn of the Perry Police Department said, choking back tears. “This community has been through tough times before and has come together. I’m sure this time it won’t be any different.
As of Thursday afternoon, several patients with gunshot wounds were being treated at Methodist Iowa Medical Center and MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, the Polk County Medical Coordination Center said in a statement.
Ava Augustus, a student at Perry High School, told WHO 13 News she was in her counselor’s office when she heard three gunshots. When they got the all clear, she saw glass everywhere, blood on the floor, and a student who had been shot in the leg being taken out of the auditorium.
Jody Kurth told KCCI 8 News, a local CBS affiliate, that her stepson, a Perry High School student, was injured in the shooting. She described the early morning attack as “a real nightmare”.
Her daughter texted her to tell her about the killing, she said, calling it «one of the worst moments of my entire life.»
Her two children were safe, she told KCCI.
At a community center in Perry, a bus dropped off elementary school students, where parents were waiting for their children to arrive. One of the first parents was Amanda Woods, 34, a mother of two young sons.
“At first I wasn’t sure exactly what school it was,” said Ms. Woods, who was listening to the police scanner to get more information about the shooting. “I was panicking.”
The shooting added an extra layer of national attention to the small community of Perry, where about 8,000 people live. Media were already in the area Thursday to cover a planned campaign event by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who held a prayer circle just hours after the attack. Participants expressed fear, but little surprise.
“God, please help our country,” Mr Ramaswamy said as he addressed the prayer event and shook hands with everyone, calling it a “dark day”.
Mr. Ramaswamy was in Iowa ahead of the state’s Republican caucuses, scheduled for Jan. 15.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden had been briefed on the shooting.
“Our students and teachers deserve to know that their schools are safe spaces and to focus on learning – not duck and cover drills,” she said during a press briefing Thursday .
In a statement on social media, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa called the «appalling violence» at Perry High School «heartbreaking» and thanked the school and law enforcement officials for their quick response .
Shelbie Lehman came to Mr. Ramaswamy’s event with her partner after picking up her first-grade daughter from elementary school after hearing about the high school shooting.
“It’s very scary to see them walking your child around with a gun and a police officer, and to have seven or eight police officers there,” Ms. Lehman told Mr. Ramaswamy.
Ms. Lehman said it was difficult to explain to her daughter why there were so many police officers and why she was picked up from school. She said she planned to try to explain things to her daughter later today as best she could.
The Perry Community School District said the high school, middle school and elementary school would be closed Friday.
Remy Tumin And Victor Mather reported from New York, and Léa McBride Mensching from Perry, Iowa. Molly Longman contributed to Perry’s reporting, and Julie Bosmann from Chicago.