MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Another school shooting in US leaves two students dead, including the perpetrator

Dylan Butler was believed to be acting alone

A 17-year-old gunman killed one person and wounded five others before taking his own life in yet another school shooting spree in the United States, this time in Iowa. The perpetrator was a student at the Perry High School in the town of Perry in Dallas County, it was also reported. The shooting occurred on the first day of classes following winter break. Iowa has a long history of school shootings, dating back to 1984.

Police Spokesman Mitch Mortvedt said that the assailant, identified as Dylan Butler, was armed with a rifle and a small caliber pistol. “All indications suggest that he acted alone,” Mortvedt added. Butler made posts on social media shortly before the shooting.

Among the wounded, there were five other students and a school worker. Police received the first alerting calls at 07.37 local time, according to Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante. The incident took place hours before classes began at 07.55, so there were very few students and teachers in the school, “which I think contributed to a good outcome in that sense,” Infante explained.

“Police officers responded within minutes,” Mortvedt said. “They immediately made entry and witnessed students and faculty either sheltering in place or running from the school.”

Officers also discovered a “rudimentary” explosive device which was neutralized.

Mortdvedt said Butler posted several social media messages around the time of the shooting including a TikTok video from inside a school bathroom with a photo that was captioned “Now we wait,” and the song “Stray Bullet” by the German band KMFDM.

The shooting came just two weeks before the Republican Party launched its primaries in Iowa to choose a candidate for the November presidential elections, with former President Donald Trump as the frontrunner.

One of Trump's rivals, Vivek Ramaswamy, was scheduled to hold a campaign event there on Thursday. “We are praying for the Perry, Iowa community this morning,” he said in a message on X (formerly Twitter).

Perry is about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines in central Iowa and Perry has a population of 7,800. Law enforcement agencies that responded included the Perry Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff's Department, Polk County Sheriff's Department, Des Moines Police Department, and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds ordered all flags in the state to be lowered to half-staff until sunset on Sunday. This “senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state to the core,” she said.

US President Joseph Biden was said to be monitoring the case, according to the White House. “It's only the fourth day in the year, in the new year, and we are already faced with yet another horrific school shooting. And the question that we ask, is when will enough be enough?” she said, Presidential Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre wondered.