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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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
