Multiple people were shot, one fatally, at a high school in Iowa on Jan. 4, according to law enforcement officials.
Officers “located multiple gunshot victims,” Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante told reporters outside Perry High School, where the shooting occurred. A sixth-grader was killed, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt said.
Five other people were struck and were being treated at area hospitals. One is a school administrator. Four are students.
Dylan Butler, 17, who was identified by authorities as the person who opened fire, used a shotgun and a handgun. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Mr. Mortvedt.
The shooting was reported at about 7:37 a.m. local time.
“School had not started yet, luckily, so there was [sic] very few faculty and students in the building, which I think contributed to a good outcome in that sense,” Mr. Infante said.
During a search of the building after the shooting, officers found an improvised explosive device, officials said. Officers rendered it safe.
Dallas County officials said earlier on Jan. 4 that “multiple law enforcement and medical staff are on site for a shooting at Perry High School” and that the site “has been secured.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters that the actions of officers “saved lives.”
President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting, White House officials said.
Perry High School senior Ava Augustus told The Associated Press that she was in a counselor’s office when she heard three gunshots. She and other people barricaded the door, preparing to throw things if necessary, because a window was too small for an escape.
“And then we hear ‘He’s down. You can go out,’” she said through tears. ”And I run and you can just see glass everywhere, blood on the floor. I get to my car and they’re taking a girl out of the auditorium who had been shot in her leg.”
Rachael Kares, an 18-year-old senior, was wrapping up jazz band practice when she and her bandmates heard what she described as four gunshots, spaced apart.
“We all just jumped,” Ms. Kares said. “My band teacher looked at us and yelled, ‘Run!’ So we ran.”
Ms. Kares and many others from the school ran out past the football field, as she heard people yelling, “Get out! Get out!” She said she heard additional shots as she ran but didn’t know how many. She was more concerned about getting home to her 3-year-old son.
Vigils were planned for the evening of Jan. 4 at a park and a local church. A post on the high school’s Facebook page states that it would be closed on Jan. 5, with counseling services planned at the public library on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6.
Perry, with a population of about 8,000 people, is about 38 miles northwest of Des Moines, Iowa. There are about 1,785 students in the municipality’s schools.
The shooting occurred in the backdrop of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy had a campaign event scheduled in Perry at 9 a.m. about 1 1/2 miles from the high school but canceled it to have a prayer and intimate discussion with area residents.
As of July 2021, Iowa doesn’t require a permit to purchase a handgun or carry a firearm in public, although it mandates a background check for a person buying a handgun without a permit.
