Police say multiple people shot at Iowa high school; suspect is dead
PERRY, Iowa (WHO) – Multiple people were shot inside a small-town Iowa high school early Thursday as students prepared to start their first day of classes after their annual winter break, authorities said.
The suspect in the shooting in Perry, Iowa, has died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.
Law enforcement was notified about an active shooter at Perry High School at 7:37 a.m. CT. When emergency responders arrived, they found multiple gunshot victims.
At a news conference Thursday morning, Infante said it was unclear how many victims were shot and the extent of their injuries but that the threat was over and there was no danger to the public.
As of July 2021, Iowa does not require a permit to purchase a handgun or carry a firearm in public, though it mandates a background check for a person buying a handgun without a permit.
NBC News reported that the shooter may have been a student.
At least three others were injured, including two students and an administrator. There have been reports that the school principal, Dan Marburger, is among those injured. He has worked for Perry schools for 25 years.
Nexstar's WHO spoke with a representative for UnityPoint Health in Des Moines who confirmed they were treating two victims with gunshot wounds at Methodist Medical Center.
Thursday was the first day back for students from the winter break. At the time of the shooting, classes had not yet started for the day, so there were fewer students and staff in the school, said Infante. Another news conference was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. to release updated information.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the school after being notified of the active shooter situation.
WHO reported that police and Iowa State Troopers blocked off the streets surrounding the school, where multiple ambulances were seen entering and leaving.
Some students were seen having tearful reunions with parents near the area of the building that houses the town's middle school and high school.
Zander Shelley, 15, was in a hallway waiting for the school day to start when he heard gunshots and dashed into a classroom, according to his father, Kevin Shelley. Zander was grazed twice and hid in the classroom before texting his father at 7:36 a.m.
Erica Jolliff said that her daughter, a ninth grader, reported getting rushed from the school grounds at 7:45 am. Distraught, Jolliff was still looking for her son Amir, a sixth grader, one hour later.
“I just want to know that he’s safe and OK,” Jolliff said. “They won’t tell me nothing.”
Rachael Kares, an 18-year-old senior, was wrapping up jazz band practice when she and her bandmates heard what she described as four gunshots, spaced apart.
“We all just jumped,” Kares said. “My band teacher looked at us and yelled, ‘Run!’ So we ran.”
Kares and many others from the school ran out past the football field, as she heard people yelling, “Get out! Get out!” She said she heard additional shots as she ran, but didn’t know how many. She was more concerned about getting home to her 3-year-old son.
“At that moment I didn’t care about anything except getting out because I had to get home with my son,” she said.
FBI agents from the Omaha-Des Moines office were on the scene to help with an investigation led by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
“There are a bunch of speculative numbers floating around,” said Dirk Cavanaugh, Perry’s mayor. “We have no confirmed numbers of who was involved yet.”
Phone messages left with the Perry School Board’s president and vice president and an email message left with Superintendent Clark Wicks were not immediately returned.
The Perry Community School District has about 1,785 students. Perry is located about 40 minutes northwest of Des Moines.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.