(Perry) A sixth grader was killed and five others were injured when a 17-year-old opened fire Thursday morning at a school in Perry, a small town in Iowa, United States .
The suspect, who was a student at Perry’s school, also died. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation spokesperson said during a press briefing Thursday afternoon.
Five people were injured, one of whom was still in critical condition when authorities took stock, although his life was no longer in danger. The other four injured were in stable condition in hospital.
Four of the victims who survived are students at the school, while the other is an administrator, authorities said. An eastern Iowa school district later identified school principal Dan Marburger as the administrator who was injured.
Dylan Butler, 17, was identified as the shooter. He would have acted alone, but the authorities have not commented on his motivations.
He had with him a shotgun and a small caliber pistol, said the deputy director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Mitch Mortvedt, at a press briefing.
An “improvised explosive device” was also found at the school by police during their initial operation to secure the establishment, but it was ultimately deemed harmless.
The suspect’s motives are under investigation. The police are examining in particular “several publications made on social networks” by the shooter at the time of the shooting, added Mr. Mortvedt.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds ordered all state flags to be flown at half-staff beginning Thursday and remain at half-staff until sunset Sunday, in support of the community and students, families and school teachers.
“This senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state,” confessed M.me Reynold at the press conference, promising that state government resources will be available to local officials moving forward.
PHOTO ANDREW HARNIK, ASSOCIATED PRESS
In Washington, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting. FBI agents are assisting in the investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Vigils were planned for Thursday evening at a park and at a local church. The school will be closed on Friday, while psychological support services will be made available to students, faculty and other members of the student community.
Panic inside the school
Earlier Thursday, Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said the shooting happened before classes started, meaning few students were in the school.
PHOTO SCOTT MORGAN, REUTERS
Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante (center)
An active shooter was reported at 7:37 a.m. Thursday morning. According to Sheriff Infante, law enforcement arrived on scene seven minutes later.
At that time, Ava Augustus was waiting for a counselor in an office when she heard three gunshots. Unable to escape through a small window, she and other students barricaded themselves in the room, ready to throw objects if necessary.
“And then we heard: ‘He’s dead, you can go out,’” the student said, in tears.
“There, I started running. There was glass and blood everywhere. When I got to my car, I saw the first responders taking a girl out of the auditorium. She had been shot in the leg. »
Zander Shelley, 15, was in a hallway waiting for the school day to start when he heard gunshots. He rushed into a classroom, according to his father, Kevin Shelley. The teen was brushed twice and hid in the classroom before texting his father at 7:36 a.m.
Kevin Shelley, who drives a garbage truck, told his boss he had to leave. “I had the biggest fear of my entire life,” he admitted.
Rachael Kares, an 18-year-old student, was finishing her jazz band rehearsal at 8:37 a.m. – she had just looked at her watch – when she and her bandmates heard what she described as four gunshots spaced apart .
“Everyone jumped,” she said. Our teacher looked at us and yelled at us to run. So off we went running. »
Like many other students, she ran to the front of the school soccer field when she heard people shouting, “Get out! Get out! »
Perry has a population of about 8,000 and is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. The municipality is home to a large pork processing plant and low, one-story houses scattered among trees now deprived of their leaves in winter.