The suspect was identified as Dylan Butler, a student at Perry High School, officials said at a news conference. He was found dead by police with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities cordon off the scene of a shooting at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa, U.S. on January 4, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Police also discovered an improvised explosive device during a search of the high school, Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told reporters.
The attack happened shortly after 7:30 a.m., before most students and faculty had entered the building. Mortvedt said Butler was armed with a handgun and a shotgun.
Four of the injured were students and the fifth was a school administrator, Mortvedt said. One victim suffered serious but apparently non-life-threatening injuries, while the other four were in stable condition.
“This senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state and I want this community to know that every Iowan stands with you,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said at a new briefing.
Perry, a town of about 7,900 people, is about 40 miles from Des Moines, the state capital of Iowa. Its middle and high schools share a single campus.
This Iowa shooting, which happened on the first day of school after winter break in 2024, continues to highlight the problem of gun violence in American schools, which has worsened in recent years.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were 346 incidents of gun violence in schools in 2023, the highest of any year in the organization’s data, which goes back to 1966, and the third straight record year. Four such incidents occurred in the first four days of 2024 alone.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters, AP, CNN)
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