A small Iowa town is stunned but coming together after a school shooting in which a 17-year-old killed a sixth-grader and injured seven other people before authorities say he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Many questions remain about how the shooting unfolded and what might have led to it, but a few details have emerged.
Here are some things to know about Thursday's shooting at Perry High School:
According to authorities and school officials, a teenage student armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun opened fire at Perry High School just after 7:30 a.m. Thursday, shortly before classes were to start the first day after. winter vacation. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation spokesman Mitch Mortvedt said the shooting started in the cafeteria, where students from several classes were having breakfast, and then spilled outside the cafeteria.
The slain student, 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, was shot three times, although details about where he was at the time have not been released. Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger and six others, including two staff members and four teenage students, suffered injuries ranging from significant to minor. The high school student identified as the shooter, Dylan Butler, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
Butler also had what authorities called a “rudimentary” improvised explosive device that could be safely disarmed.
Police said they believe Butler acted alone.
While authorities have said little about what happened inside the school, some stories of bravery and selflessness are beginning to emerge.
Authorities say Marburger, who has been principal since 1995, put himself in harm's way in an apparent effort to protect students. Perry Superintendent Clark Wicks said Marburger was a “hero” who intervened at Butler so students could escape. Wicks said other staff also acted heroically, including middle school assistant principal Adam Jessen, who “carried an injured student to a safe area.”
The principal's daughter, Claire Marburger, posted on Facebook Friday evening that cards were coming in from community members and students. She said her favorite, which made her and her family members laugh, read: “not all heroes wear capes, some are the school principal.”
One mother, Bobbi Bushbaum, posted on Facebook that her son Corey had been shot multiple times but was able to stagger to a nearby field. When she arrived, she saw him being helped to an ambulance by others, whom she thanked, saying: “I would like them to know that without them my son would not be here.”
The authorities have not said that.
But a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said federal and state investigators interviewed Butler's friends and analyzed Butler's social media profiles, including posts on TikTok and Reddit. Shortly before the shooting Thursday, Butler posted a photo on TikTok in the bathroom at Perry High School, the official said. The photo was captioned 'now we wait' and the song 'Stray Bullet' by German band KMFDM accompanied the photo. Investigators also found posted photos showing Butler posing with firearms, said the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Two friends and their mother who spoke to the AP said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied relentlessly since elementary school. Sisters Yesenia Roeder and Khamya Hall, both 17, along with their mother, Alita, said the situation escalated recently when Butler's younger sister was also bullied.
Wicks would not discuss whether Butler had been bullied, but he defended his district's response to bullying.
“We take every bullying situation seriously and our goal is to always have that safe and welcoming atmosphere,” Wicks told reporters Friday.
Ahmir Jolliff, whose family knew him as “Smiley,” was a whirlwind of cheerful activity. The 11-year-old had run out of his house on Thursday morning, eager to see his friends again on the first day. His mother, Erica Jolliff, told the AP that he enjoyed football, played the tuba and sang in choir. He had a habit of touching people on the shoulder and asking how their day was.
Ahmir, who attended the high school affiliated with the high school, was shot three times.
“He was so loved and he loved everyone,” she said. “He's such an outgoing person.”
Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh expressed confidence Friday that his community would get through the painful experience together.
“We are a small town, but we will come together in a big way to get through this,” Cavanaugh told reporters.
In a show of solidarity and support for Perry, Des Moines is lighting three bridges in the city in blue, the official school color of the Perry district.
“Over the next week, as you pass by or visit the blue-lit bridges, please take a moment to remember those affected by the senseless tragedy at Perry High School, and the families whose safety and sense of normalcy have been affected by the shooting were destroyed. ,” Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen said Saturday.
Perry has a population of about 8,000 and is located about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines. It is home to a large pork processing plant and is more diverse than Iowa as a whole. Census figures show 31% of residents are Hispanic, compared to less than 7% statewide. Nearly 19% were born outside the US
Wicks said the high school will remain closed for the entire next week while it is cleaned and repaired. He said the earliest classes for primary and secondary school students could resume would be Friday.
The shootings have cast a shadow on the state's first Republican presidential caucuses, set for Jan. 15.
Questions about the shooting continued to bubble up as the candidates meandered through the state Thursday and Friday, but did not disrupt their pitches to conservative caucusgoers. It reflects both Republican opposition to gun restrictions and how commonplace attacks on schools have become.
On Thursday evening, the first questions to both Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley were about guns in a pair of CNN town halls. Both responded by emphasizing the need for more mental health care and school safety.
Former President Donald Trump briefly mentioned the shooting during a rally Friday evening in Sioux Center, Iowa.
“It's a very terrible thing that happened,” Trump said. “And it's just terrible. To see that happen. That seems terrible. So surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it. We have to move forward. We have to move forward.”
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Associated Press writer Mike Balsamo in New York contributed to this story.