A deadly school shooting that broke out in Iowa last week Thursday has left one dead and five injured. Early in the morning, the assailant opened fire at Perry High School, near Des Moine, and then killed himself.
January 4, 2024, was the beginning of a new semester for the school, the only high school in the Perry Community School District. Everything seemed normal for the few staff and students on the ground when, suddenly, gunshots disrupted the calm.
Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Investigation, identified the shooter as Dylan Butler.
Mortvedt disclosed that the shooter was armed with a pump action shotgun and a small caliber handgun. Reports also have it that Butler had made some social media posts close to the time of the shooting.
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“It all happened in the Perry High School, and it was before school started, so there were not many students,” Mortvedt revealed. “There was a breakfast program going on, so there may have been students of different grades … in the school at that time.”
While much isn’t yet known of Butler, a Perry resident had good words for the sixth-grader who died. She described him as “the sweetest boy, the one you want your kids to be friends with.”
However, two kids and their mother, who spoke to newsmen, described Butler as a quiet person. They also revealed that he suffered constant bullying at the school.
Law enforcement arrived at the scene about seven minutes after they received a distress call. Local police, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives met a pretty chaotic scene. While some students barricaded themselves in offices, some ducked, while others ran for dear life.
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There were several people, including the shooter, with gunshot wounds when authorities arrived. There was also an improvised explosive device at the scene, which they successfully disabled.
Authorities have listed Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger as one of the injured persons.
Law enforcement is trying to dig up enough information that will reveal the shooter’s motive for the attack. They are scouring through his social media, including Reddit and TikTok, for any hints.
One interesting post that investigators found was a photo Butler posted a little while before the shooting. Butler posted a photo of himself in the school bathroom with a caption that read, “Now we wait.” The TikTok post also had background music from German rock band KMFDM titled “Stray Bullet.”
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A spokesperson for MercyOne Des Moine Medical Center disclosed that three gunshot victims are receiving treatment at the Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. Others are getting treatment from another nearby medical facility.
The Perry High School shooting is one out of at least seven mass shootings to rock the United States in 2024. It was not an encouraging start to a year that people hoped would be different from previous years.
2023 recorded over six hundred mass shootings, thirty-eight of which led to four or more deaths. With the look of things, 2024 is gearing up to be yet another year of fiery gun control debates and legislation.
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