A 17-year-old student has been identified as the shooter who killed a sixth grader and injured five others at an Iowa high school on the f...
A 17-year-old student has been identified as the shooter who killed a sixth grader and injured five others at an Iowa high school on the first day of classes after the annual winter holiday break.
Perry High School student Dylan Butler was named by officials as the individual who opened fire on the campus shortly after 7.30am on Thursday.
Butler, who carried a pump action shotgun and a small caliber handgun, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt said on Thursday afternoon.
He made multiple posts on social media around the time of the rampage.
A sixth grade student at the middle school was killed, Mortvedt said.
Five other victims – four students and a school administration – were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment, he said.
During a search, cops found ‘an improvised explosive device’ inside the high school, according to Mortvedt. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ‘rendered the device safe’, he said.
Cops arrived at the scene seven minutes after reports of the shooting and discovered ‘multiple gunshot victims’, said Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante.
Two victims with gunshot wounds were rushed to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, a spokesperson at the facility said.
The nature of the victims’ injuries was not immediately known.
Shots were fired before school started and there were not many students or staff in the building, which resulted in a ‘good outcome’, Infante said.
‘There may have been students of different grades in school at that time,’ he said. ‘It was all contained in Perry High School. It is still part of the investigation.’
Infante in a brief morning press conference said there was no further threat to the public. He declined to answer questions from reporters and said he would provide more updates later in the day.
Perry High School senior Ava Augustus said she heard three gunshots while inside a counselor’s office. She and other barricaded the door and looked for objects to throw if necessary.
‘And then we hear, “He’s down. You can go out,”’ said a tearful Augustus.
A shooter was reported shortly after 7.30am on Thursday at Perry High School
A shooter was reported shortly after 7.30am on Thursday at Perry High School (Picture: AP)
‘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.’
The FBI stated: ‘We are assisting the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, who is the lead investigative agency.’
About 150 officers from local, state and federal agencies responded to the crime scene within an hour of the first shots, Mortvedt said.
Governor Kim Reynolds said: ‘Their heroic actions today we can say saved lives.’
Police said they found multiple gunshot victims upon arriving at Perry High School
Police said they found multiple gunshot victims upon arriving at Perry High School (Picture: AP)
It is the first shooting to be reported at a school in the US so far in 2024.
Perry is roughly 40 miles northwest of the state capital of Des Moines, and has a population of more than 8,000 people, according to the 2022 census.
