Police have identified the suspect who reportedly shot multiple people Thursday morning at Perry High School in Iowa.
This was the first day back for the students following the holiday break. The high school and middle school are in the same building, encompassing part of Perry Community School District’s 1,785-student population.
About twenty minutes before school was to begin, around 7:37 a.m., the shooting started. Two teachers reported that the principal of the high school, Dan Marburger, was one of the individuals shot.
According to the breaking news briefing, two students and the administrator were shot, and the shooter is dead, per NBC News. Although the identity of the shooter has been confirmed, officials are not releasing any additional information at this time.
Preliminary reports indicate that one of the injuries the shooter inflicted may be fatal, but no further details have been released at this time.
Roughly 40 miles northwest of downtown Des Moines in Dallas County, dozens of law enforcement from central Iowa, including two medical helicopters, were seen at the high school around 8:30 a.m. on January 4. Police were said to have responded to the school seven minutes after the initial call for help.
The shooter reportedly shot himself, as indicated by an unknown first responder who advised 911 dispatchers that a “male subject down in the hallway — appears to be self-inflicted” and that he was “showing other victims.” The first responder later said that he was outside of Room 308 and the “subject that’s down is deceased,” per the Des Moines Register.
Parents began arriving a little before 9 a.m. to locate their children, according to the Des Moines Register, as police instructed parents to pick up their children at the elementary school, about a mile west of the high school.
Kevin Shelley said his son, Zander, 15, was grazed by two bullets while in a school hallway and that his son saw his principal get shot.
“My son was inside, said he heard gunshots and immediately started running,” Shelley said, per Des Moines Register. “They got into a classroom with a teacher that kept them hidden and safe.”
Another parent, Jody Kurth, told ABC News that her stepson was struck in the back and arm in the shooting but is “doing really well.”
Perry Community School District has canceled classes for December 5.
Another press conference is scheduled for the afternoon of December 4.
