Iowa shooting: ‘Joyful’ 11-year-old victim mourned as bullying of Perry school gunman revealed
One dead, five injured, as students returned from winter break
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The Iowa school shooter who killed one sixth grader and injured five was bullied “relentlessly,” according to his former classmates.
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who attacked Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday as students returned from their Christmas break.
His former classmates, sisters Yesenia Roeder and Khamya Hall, both 17, said that Butler had been bullied relentlessly since elementary school.
They added that the bullying had escalated recently, when his younger sister started getting picked on, too. Officials at the school didn’t intervene, they said, and that was “the last straw” for the shooter.
“He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment,” Yesenia Roeder Hall said.
Police said the suspect’s motive was being investigated and authorities were looking into “a number of social media posts” he made around the time of the shooting, Des Moines Register reported.
Moments before the shooting, Butler, who was found dead at the scene, posted a video on TikTok captioned “now we wait” and the song “Stray Bullet” by the German band KMFDM accompanied it.
Ahmir Jolliff, the 11-year-old victim of the shooting, is remembered by family and friends as a joyful boy known as “Smiley” at home.
Teen gunman, sixth grader killed and five injured: What we know about the Iowa school shooting
At least one person is dead and five others are injured after a 17-year-old student allegedly opened fire at Perry High School in Iowa.
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman, who opened fire on the school as students returned after their Christmas break on 4 January.
One sixth-grader was killed and five others were injured, including Perry High School principal Dan Marburger.
Mitch Mortvedt, the state investigation division’s assistant director, said one person was in critical condition but the injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening. The other victims are in stable condition.
Butler, a former student at the school, was found dead on the scene. An Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation official said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The teenager’s motive for the attack is now under investigation.
Here’s all we know so far....
A teen gunman and sixth grader killed: What we know about the Iowa school shooting
Gunfire erupted at Perry High School on a Thursday morning, leaving a child and the suspected gunman dead
Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger’s daughter shares her father’s condition
Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger was shot and wounded when Dylan Butler, 17, attacked Perry High School early on Thursday morning.
Mr Marburger was transported to a hospital for treatment and is now ins stable condition, according to his daughter.
Iowa school shooter who killed one and injured five bullied ‘relentlessly’ since elementary school
The Iowa school shooter who killed one sixth grader and injured five was bullied “relentlessly,” according to his former classmates.
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who attacked Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday as students returned from their Christmas break.
His former classmates, sisters Yesenia Roeder and Khamya Hall, both 17, said that Butler had been bullied relentlessly since elementary school.
They added that the bullying had escalated recently, when his younger sister started getting picked on, too. Officials at the school didn’t intervene, they said, and that was “the last straw” for the shooter.
“He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment,” Yesenia Roeder Hall said.
Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no,” she added.
Bulter was found dead at the scene by responding officers.
Shooter’s chilling final social media post revealed
Iowa police are now looking into “a number of social media posts” made by the teenager who unleashed terror on an Iowa high school on Thursday, killing one victim and injuring five.
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who opened fire inside Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday as students returned from their Christmas break.
Butler, a former student at the school, was found dead on the scene.
The teenager’s motive for the attack is now under investigation, with authorities looking into “a number of social media posts” he made around the time of the shooting, Des Moines Register reported.
Moments before the shooting, Butler allegedly posted a final chilling video on TikTok captioned: “Now we wait”.
Continue reading...
Iowa school shooter’s chilling final social media post revealed
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who opened fire in Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday
DeSantis dodges question on gun control hours after Iowa school shooting
Ron DeSantis was grilled on gun control in Iowa hours after a shooting in the state killed a middle school student on the first day of classes in 2024.
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who attacked Perry High School, killing one sixth-grader and injuring five others on Thursday. Butler was also found dead on the scene after the shooting.
Appearing on CNN’s town hall on Thursday, the Florida governor was asked, in light of the recent Iowa shooting, how he would address gun violence in schools.
He was asked by host Kaitlan Collins about the recent proposal by state senator Jonathan Martin to eliminate the statewide three-day waiting period to buy a rifle or shotgun and if he supported the movement.
Amelia Neath reports on his response:
Ron DeSantis question on gun control hours after Iowa shooting
Ron DeSantis was grilled on gun control laws in Florida hours after school shooting in Iowa
Ramaswamy calls gun control ‘wrong approach’ and ‘false hubris’
Vivek Ramaswamy has called gun control the “wrong approach” to tackling gun violence, instead blaming an “ailment at the heart and soul of our nation” just hours after a mass shooting at a school in Iowa.
On Thursday, a 17-year-old opened fire at Perry High School in Iowa, killing one sixth grader and injuring five others before officers found him dead at the scene.
Mr Ramaswamy was in Iowa that day for a campaign event, which he said was cancelled and converted into “prayer and open conversation”.
During that open conversation, Mr Ramaswamy denounced those who are calling for gun control measures, according to a video from Politico.
Katie Hawkinson reports:
Vivek Ramaswamy calls gun control ‘wrong approach’ in wake of Iowa shooting
Vivek Ramaswamy said the United States has a ‘psychological sickness’ at its core
Everything we know about the 17-year-old shooter
Dylan Butler had always been a quiet kid, according to those who knew him.
So when he unleashed terror through Perry High School on the morning of 4 January, killing one person and injuring five, it sent shockwaves through the community.
The 17-year-old had been the target of bullying since his very early years, and the bullying had recently engulfed his sister in the leadup to his violent rampage at his rural Iowa high school, according to his classmates.
He also used his social media accounts to display his fascination with serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and to share photos of himself posing with firearms.
Merrick Garland says new gun law has blocked over 500 firearms from being bought by young people
More than 500 gun purchases have been blocked since a new gun law requiring stricter background checks for young people went into effect in 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday, the day after a school shooting in Iowa left a sixth-grader dead.
The bipartisan law passed in June 2022 was the most sweeping gun legislation in decades and requires extra checks for any gun purchases by people under age 21. Those denied a gun purchase include a person convicted of rape, a suspect in an attempted murder case and someone who had been involuntarily committed for mental-health treatment, according to the Justice Department.
President Joe Biden applauded the news, calling it an important milestone.
Continue reading...
New gun law has blocked over 500 firearms from being bought by young people, attorney general says
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that more than 500 gun purchases have been blocked since a new gun law requiring stricter background checks for young people went into effect in 2022
Shooter’s chilling final social media post revealed
Iowa police are now looking into “a number of social media posts” made by the teenager who unleashed terror on an Iowa high school on Thursday, killing one victim and injuring five.
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who opened fire inside Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday as students returned from their Christmas break.
Butler, a former student at the school, was found dead on the scene.
The teenager’s motive for the attack is now under investigation, with authorities looking into “a number of social media posts” he made around the time of the shooting, Des Moines Register reported.
Moments before the shooting, Butler allegedly posted a final chilling video on TikTok captioned: “Now we wait”.
Continue reading...
Iowa school shooter’s chilling final social media post revealed
Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who opened fire in Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday
Principal critically injured protecting students
An Iowa principal critically injured in a school shooting put himself in harm’s way so students could try to escape from a teenage shooter who opened fire in a cafeteria as students were gathering for breakfast before class, authorities said Friday.
Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger and six others, including two staff members and four teenage students, were injured in the Thursday morning shooting that left one sixth-grader dead. The 17-year-old student who opened fire also died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
The state Department of Public Safety said Marburger, who is being treated in a Des Moines hospital, “acted selflessly and placed himself in harm’s way in an apparent effort to protect his students.”
Details also emerged about other victims. The student killed was identified as 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, who was shot three times, authorities said. The mother of one teenager posted on Facebook that her son was helped to an ambulance after he was shot multiple times. Perry Superintendent Clark Wicks said several people helped others to safety.
Yellow crime tape still lined the campus Perry High School shares with the town’s middle school on Friday, and flowers and stuffed toys had cropped up in mini memorials. Wicks said classes will not resume in the district before next Friday at the earliest.
The news that seven students and staff suffered “wounds or injuries of varying degree” during the shooting was two more than authorities said Thursday afternoon. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation spokesman Mitch Mortvedt said the number increased after investigators later learned about two more wounded faculty members. All seven are believed to have been either wounded or grazed by bullets, and suffered injuries ranging from significant to minor.
On Friday, Marburger and two students remained hospitalized.
In a Facebook post Thursday night, the principal’s daughter said he was in “surgery all day, and is currently stable.”
Claire Marburger called her father a “gentle giant” and said it wasn’t surprising that her father tried to protect his students.
“As I heard of a gunman, I instantly had a feeling my Dad would be a victim as he would put himself in harms way for the benefit of the kids and his staff,” his daughter wrote. “That’s just Dad.”
Mortvedt said Marburger, who has been principal since 1995, did some “pretty significant things” to protect others during the shooting, but didn’t release details. Wicks, the superintendent, said Marburger was a “hero” who intervened with Butler so students could escape. Wicks said other staff also acted heroically, including Middle School Assistant Principal Adam Jessen who “carried a wounded student into a safe area.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.