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

Community mourns deadly Iowa school shooting

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.

Key Points

• What we know about the Iowa school shooting
• 11-year-old killed in Iowa school shooting remembered as a joyful boy
• Iowa shooting suspect dead from self-inflicted gunshot wound, source says
• Iowa school shooter’s chilling final social media post revealed
• ‘We have to get over it’: Trump comments on Iowa school shooting

[7 January 2024 15:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump comments on Iowa school shooting: ‘We have to get over it’

While campaigning in Iowa on Friday — one day after the Perry, Iowa high school shooting occurred — Donald Trump offered his “deepest sympathies” to those affected just before telling the crowd “we have to get over it.”

Speaking at Sioux Center on 5 January, the former president said: “To the entire community, we love you, we pray for you, and we ask God to heal and comfort really the whole state and the pain that you have. This is something that’s very unique to your state.”

“That’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here, but we have to get over it,” Mr Trump said. “We have to move forward.”

[7 January 2024 16:00 · Martha McHardy]

Full story: 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:

[7 January 2024 17:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

[7 January 2024 17:30 · AP]

11-year-old killed in Iowa school shooting remembered as a joyful boy

Ahmir Jolliff dashed out of his home in Perry Thursday morning, eager to see his friends on the first day back to school after winter break.

It was vintage Ahmir — known as “Smiley” around his house — an 11-year-old whirlwind of cheerful activity. He kept a trunk of toys unlocked in the front yard so anyone could play with them, his mother said. He loved soccer, played the tuba and sang in choir. He had a habit of touching people on their shoulder and asking them how their day was.

Ahmir was killed Thursday before class even started, when a 17-year-old student at Perry High School opened fire in the cafeteria. The sixth-grader, who attended the middle school that’s connected to the high school, was shot three times, authorities said. Seven others, including the school’s principal, two other staff members and four students, were wounded before the shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Ahmir’s mother, Erica Jolliff, said on that morning, her son couldn’t wait to get to school and left minutes ahead of his mom and sister, who is in ninth-grade. Jolliff soon found herself scouring the streets for her children when authorities sped into town and blocked access to the complex after the shooting. She found her daughter unharmed. But she couldn’t find Ahmir.

“I just had a feeling he was still in that building,” she said.

Continue reading:

[7 January 2024 18:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

‘It was the most scared I’ve been in my entire life’: Students and their parents recount terror of shooting

Zander Shelley, 15, was in a hallway when he heard gunshots and dashed into a classroom, according to his father, Kevin Shelley. Zander was grazed twice and hid in the classroom before texting his father at 7:36 a.m.

Kevin Shelley, who drives a garbage truck, told his boss he had to run. “It was the most scared I’ve been in my entire life,” he said.

Meanwhile, Amber Ross told CBC her daughter heard three gunshots come from the school’s cafeteria as she walked through a hallway that connects the cafeteria to the middle school.

“It could have been her,” she said through tears. Ms Ross said her daughter called her as the shots rung out, “I thought she was exaggerating,” she said. “I was like, ’no way, that couldn’t have happened, you guys just heard something.’ But no.

“She heard three gun shots that could have been pointed in her direction,” she added.

Rachael Kares, an 18-year-old senior, also described hearing gunshots. She was wrapping up jazz band practice when she and her bandmates heard what she described as four gunshots, spaced apart. “We all just jumped,” Kares said.

“My band teacher looked at us and yelled, ‘Run!’ So we ran.” Kares and many others from the school ran out past the football field, as she heard people yelling, “Get out! Get out!”

She said she was more concerned about getting home to her three-year-old son. “At that moment I didn’t care about anything except getting out because I had to get home with my son,” she said.

One mother, Bobbi Bushbaum, posted on Facebook that her son Corey was shot multiple times, suffering a fractured femur and wrist. Bushbaum said Corey was able to stumble to a nearby field after being wounded, and when she arrived, he was being helped toward an ambulance. In the post, Bushbaum said her son underwent one surgery, but still had bullets in his body and won’t be able to walk for weeks.

Bushbaum expressed thanks to those who helped pull Corey to safety, saying: “I would like them to know my son wouldn’t be here without them.”

[7 January 2024 19:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

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.”

[7 January 2024 20:00 · Martha McHardy]

What happened during the shooting?

The suspected shooter opened fire in the school around 7.37am local time on 4 January, just as students were preparing to return for the first day of their second semester.

Within minutes law enforcement was notified of an active shooter situation in the high school, which is located approximately 30 miles from Des Moines. Upon arrival, police officers found students and faculty either sheltering in place or fleeing the school.

Mr Mortvedt, an assistant director with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said officers “quickly found what appeared to be the shooter with a self-inflicted gunshot wound”.

He added that the shooter was found holding a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun.

Authorities also found a “pretty rudimentary” improvised explosive device in the school but were able to render it safe.

One sixth grader was killed in the shooting, while five other people were injured, including the school’s principal.

Three gunshot victims were taken by ambulance to the Iowa Methodist Medical Centre in Des Moines, a spokesperson for its health system said.

Other patients were transported to a second hospital in Des Moines, a spokesperson for MercyOne Des Moines Medical Centre County Sheriff Adam Infante said Butler opened fire before the opening bell, when “very few students and faculty” were in the building.

[7 January 2024 20:30 · Martha McHardy]

Who is the suspect?

Police identified 17-year-old Dylan Butler as the gunman who opened fire on Perry High School.

Butler was a former student at the school, authorities said.

The teenager, who authorities said acted alone, was described as a quiet person who had been relentlessly bullied for years by his former classmates.

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,” 17-year-old Yesenia Roeder Hall said.

State officials said 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, The Des Moines Register reported.

Moments before the shooting, Butler allegedly posted a final chilling video on TikTok captioned: “Now we wait”.

In the video, Butler posed in a bathroom stall at the school with a blue duffle bag at his feet.

It was accompanied by the song “Stray Bullet” by the German band KMFDM, also used on the personal website of Eric Harris, one of the shooters involved in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

Investigators also found pictures on his social media accounts showing the 17-year-old posing with firearms.

A law enforcement official said federal and state investigators were interviewing Butler’s friends and analysing his online footprint, including posts on TikTok and Reddit.

[7 January 2024 21:00 · Martha McHardy]

What has been the reaction to the shooting?

Following the shooting, local residents gathered for a vigil at Wiese Park in Perry and held candles as they listened to pastors from many faiths and heard a message of hope in both English and Spanish.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds released a statement describing the shooting as a “senseless tragedy” that has “shaken our entire state to the core”.

“Our hearts are heavy today and our prayers are with the Perry community,” she said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also addressed the shooting at a press conference, calling it “tragic” and “senseless”.

“We’re just a couple of days into the new year and we’re talking about another shooting, and that is heart-wrenching and that is heart-breaking,” Ms Jean-Pierre told reporters. “When will enough be enough?”

Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy, who is one of several Republican presidential candidates campaigning in Iowa ahead of the state’s Republican presidential caucuses later this month, also reacted to the shooting.

“We pray for the victims of the tragic high school shooting in Perry, Iowa,” Mr Ramaswamy said. “I happened to be there today right after it happened, we canceled our event and converted it to a prayer & open conversation. Strikingly, the first two people who spoke to us each said they ‘weren’t surprised’ & that it was just a matter of time before something like this happened. We have a psychological sickness at the core of our country right now.”

A White House official said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting.

[7 January 2024 21:30 · Martha McHardy]

What does this mean for gun control in 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 a person buying a handgun without a permit.

In light of the shooting, the White House urged Congress to pass gun control legislation that would enact universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of firearms and pass a national red flag law.

President Biden signed major gun safety legislation passed by Congress into law in 2022, the first legislation of its kind in 30 years.

The legislation included enhanced background checks for gun buyers between 18 and 21 years old and closed the “boyfriend” loophole, a gap in American gun legislation that allowed physically abusive ex-romantic partners and stalkers with previous convictions or restraining orders to access guns.

“It took 30 years to get that bipartisan legislation done, and the president obviously signed it. But we need more. It is not enough. That’s what we believe. It’s just not enough,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.

“Our students and teachers deserve to know that their schools are safe spaces and to focus on learning, not duck and cover drills. More must be done to keep our schools and communities safe.”