US: Police say 17-year-old killed sixth-grader, wounded 5 in Iowa school shooting
Perry (US), Jan 5: A 17-year-old opened fire at a small-town Iowa high school on the first day of school after the winter break, killing a sixth-grader and wounding five others on Thursday as students barricaded in offices, ducked into classrooms and fled in panic.
The suspect, a student at the school in Perry, died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation official said. Authorities said one of the five people wounded was an administrator, and later identified as Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger by an eastern Iowa school district where he graduated from high school.
Authorities identified the shooter as Dylan Butler, 17, and provided no information about a possible motive. Two friends and their mother who spoke with The Associated Press said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied for years.
Perry has about 8,000 residents and is about 40 miles (65 kilometres) northwest of Des Moines, on the edge of the state capital's metropolitan area. It is home to a large pork-processing plant, and low-slung, single-story homes spread among trees now shorn of their leaves by winter. The high school and middle school are connected, sitting on the east edge of the town.
Authorities said the shooter had a pump-action shotgun and a small-calibre handgun. Mitch Mortvedt, the state investigation division's assistant director, said during a news conference that authorities also found a "pretty rudimentary" improvised explosive device and rendered it safe.
The suspect's motive is being investigated and authorities are looking into "a number of social media posts" he made around the time of the shooting, Mortvedt added.
Sisters Yesenia Roeder and Khamya Hall, both 17, said alongside their mother, Alita, that Butler was bullied relentlessly since elementary school, but it escalated recently when his younger sister started getting picked on, too. Officials at the school did not intervene, they said, and that was "the last straw" for Butler.
"He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment," Yesenia Roeder Hall, 17, said. "Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no."
Perry High School senior Ava Augustus said she was awaiting a counsellor in a school office when she heard three shots. Unable to flee through a small window, she and others barricaded the door and were ready to throw things if necessary.
"And then we hear 'He is down. You can go out,'" Augustus said through tears. "And I run and you can just see glass everywhere, blood on the floor. I get to my car and they are taking a girl out of the auditorium who had been shot in her leg."
Three gunshot victims were being treated at Iowa Methodist Medical Centre in Des Moines, a spokesperson said. Others were taken to a second Des Moines hospital, a spokesperson for MercyOne Des Moines Medical Centre confirmed.
Mortvedt said one person was in critical condition but the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. The other victims were stable, he said.
Community members gathered for a vigil on Thursday evening at a park. A post on the high school's Facebook page said it would be closed on Friday and counselling services would be available for students, faculty and members of the community.
Governor Kim Reynolds ordered all flags in Iowa lowered to half-staff.
"This senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state to its core," she said.
In Washington, President Joe Biden and US Attorney General Merrick Garland were briefed on the shooting. FBI agents from the Omaha-Des Moines office are assisting with the investigation led by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
The shooting occurred in the backdrop of Iowa's looming first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy had a 9 am campaign event scheduled in Perry about one-and-a-half miles (2.4 kilometres) from the school but cancelled it to hold a prayer and intimate discussion with area residents.
Mass shootings across the US have long brought calls for stricter gun laws from gun safety advocates, and Thursday's did within hours. But that idea has been a non-starter for many Republicans, particularly in rural, GOP-leaning states like Iowa.
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 anyone buying a handgun without a permit.
Ramaswamy said the shooting is a sign of a "psychological sickness" in the country. In Des Moines, GOP rival and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said gun violence "is more of a local and state issue" in an interview with the Des Moines Register and NBC News.
The high school in Perry is part of the 1,785-student Perry Community School District. The town is more diverse than Iowa as a whole. Census figures show 31 per cent of the residents are Hispanic, compared to less than 7 per cent statewide. Those figures also show nearly 19 per cent of the town's residents were born outside the US.
Authorities said an active shooter was reported at 7:37 am on Thursday and officers arrived within minutes. Emergency vehicles surrounded the complex.
"Officers immediately attempted to locate the source of the threat and quickly found what appeared to be the shooter with a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Mortvedt said.
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'PM is scared of questions': Cong slams govt after IYC chief's arrest
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Indian Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib was arrested in connection with the shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit, saying the PM is "scared" of dissent and questions being asked of him.
Chib was arrested by Delhi Police in connection with the shirtless protest staged by a group of youth wing members at the AI Impact Summit here last week, officials said on Tuesday.
Police have also stepped up security across key locations in the capital in anticipation of possible protests following Chib's arrest, which took the total number of people held in the case to eight.
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Asked about Chib's arrest, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera told PTI Videos, "It is the duty of the opposition to protest in a democracy but a dictator will never understand this."
"If you hear the speech of that dictator in Meerut recently you will get to know that the word democracy does not exist in his dictionary," Khera said, in a swipe at the prime minister.
Chib as well as other colleagues are being arrested from various parts of the country, Khera, who is in Bhopal for the party's Kisan Maha Chaupal against the India-US interim trade deal, said,
"This shows that Narendra Modi is scared of dissent and questions being asked of him. Narendra Modi is emerging as the most cowardly Prime Minister in the world. He is being blackmailed, he is a coward, he is scared," Khera alleged.
"It has been the Congress' history that no matter how much oppression we face, we will continue to raise issues of the people and will keep fighting with 'Ahimsa'," he said.
Police had earlier arrested seven Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, including three from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, for the protest at the Bharat Mandapam last Friday. They have been identified as Jitendra Yadav, Raj Gujjar and Ajay Kumar.
In addition, IYC's Uttar Pradesh general secretary Ritik alias Monty Shukla has been detained from Lalitpur in the state.
Senior officers said additional force has been deployed at the sensitive points, particularly in New Delhi, a hotspot for political demonstrations.
Security has been tightened around the Tilak Marg police station, where Chib is presently held, while barricades have been put up at the strategic points, with anti-riot teams on standby.
Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and additional companies of paramilitary forces have also been placed on alert to respond to any law and order situation, officials said.
Senior officers have directed the field staff to ensure that traffic movement remains smooth.
On Friday, a group of IYC workers staged a dramatic protest inside Hall No. 5 of the summit venue by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with slogans against the government and the India-US interim trade deal, before being whisked away by security personnel.
Police said the accused had registered online and obtained QR codes to gain entry into the venue.
The incident triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP calling it a "shameful act to tarnish India's image on the global stage", and the IYC defending it as a "peaceful" demonstration aimed at safeguarding national interests.
VIDEO | Delhi: On arrest of Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with 'shirtless' protest staged by a group of IYC members at the AI Impact Summit last week, Congress leader Pawan Khera (@Pawankhera) says, "Protesting is the duty and responsibility of the… pic.twitter.com/2MOujnPDLX
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 24, 2026
