On Thursday morning, January 4, a shooter opened fire at Perry High School in Iowa, killing one student and injuring five others. According to Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation, the suspect, a 17-year-old high school student named Dylan Butler, then shot himself.
Five kids were among the victims in the shooting. A sixth-grader was killed. The Perry Community School Board and the Easton Valley School District confirmed to ABC News that Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger was among those shot. While four victims were said to be in stable condition, one was said to be in serious condition.
Butler carried both a pump-action shotgun and a pump-action handgun with him. There was also a “rudimentary” explosive device found in the school.
The incident occurred before the start of the school day, so there were few children and staff there, “which I think contributed to a good outcome in that sense,” Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said to the reporters. It was the first day of school after the winter vacation.
Butler posted a TikTok of himself in what appeared to be a school bathroom before the shooting. “Now we wait,” it was captioned. Stray Bullet by KMFDM was playing in the background. The song has lyrics like “I’m your nightmare coming true, I am your worst enemy,” and “Stray bullet, from the barrel of love.”