January 4, 2024 - One student killed, several wounded at Perry High School in Iowa, officials say

A sixth grade student was killed and five others wounded in a shooting at Perry High School near Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday morning.

The shooter was identified as a student at the high school and was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Investigation.

The attack was the second school shooting of the year, according to a CNN analysis. It was also one of at least four mass shootings that have unfolded in the United States in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Here's what we know so far:

The mass shooting at Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday marks the second school shooting in 2024, according to a CNN analysis. At least one person was killed, and five others were wounded, according to authorities.

The first school shooting of the year took place on January 3 in Midlothian, Virginia. One person was injured. No other shootings on school grounds took place earlier in a calendar year since CNN began tracking such shootings in 2008.

One other incident occurred on or before January 4 — a shooting at an Illinois high school where two people were injured on January 4, 2022, according to the CNN analysis.

There were 82 US school shootings in 2023, a record since at least 2008 when CNN began tracking school shootings. Of those last year, 52 were reported on K-12 campuses and 30 at universities and colleges.

How CNN reports these numbers: CNN reports mass shootings based on data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that tracks gun violence in the United States. CNN and the GVA define a mass shooting as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter. 

CNN defines school shootings as shootings that involve at least one person being shot, excluding the shooter. The shooting must also occur on school property, which includes, but is not limited to buildings, fields, lots, stadiums and buses.

Flags in Iowa will fly at half-staff from now until sunset on Sunday after a gunman killed one person and wounded five others at an Iowa high school Thursday, the governor said,

This directive applies to flags at the state Capitol building and in the Capitol complex, as well as on all public buildings, grounds and facilities throughout the state, according to the statement.

"Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect," the governor said.

CNN's Jennifer Feldman contributed reporting to this post.

One of the victims of a shooting at Perry High School is in critical but not life-threatening condition, according to Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt.

The other four people injured in the shooting are in stable condition, he said during a news conference Thursday.

Mortvedt said an investigation is ongoing and that officers from federal state and local agencies are working on the incident.

Officials have identified the person who opened fire at Perry High School as 17-year-old Dylan Butler, a student at the school.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt said the shooter was armed with a pump action shotgun and a small caliber handgun.

He said the shooter made several social media posts in and around the time of the shooting.

At least one person was killed and five others were injured, he said. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mortvedt said.

This post has been updated with the name of the shooter provided by police.

At least one person was killed in a shooting at a school in Perry, Iowa, on Thursday, according to Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt.

That person was a sixth grade student at the middle school, he said during a news conference.

Five other victims are being treated at hospitals in the area, according to Mortvedt. Four of them are students and one is a school administrator, he said.

Police officers located "an improvised explosive device" inside Perry High School in Iowa while undergoing a search of the building following the shooting, according to Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt of the Division of Criminal Investigation.

Iowa's state fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms "rendered the device safe," he said during a Thursday news conference.

"Numerous officers from multiple agencies were able to secure the school and verify no additional threats," he said.

Mortvedt called law enforcement's response to the shooting "swift and immediate," adding that approximately 150 officers from the local, state and federal level responded within an hour of the incident.

"The investigation into this tragedy is ongoing," he said.

Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt said authorities entered Perry High School and found the suspected shooter dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Students and faculty were sheltering in place or running from the school when officers entered, he said. Once inside, they found multiple people with gunshot wounds.

Officers located an improvised explosive device during the search, he added, but the state fire marshal and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials rendered it safe. 

Thursday was scheduled to be the first day back for students after winter break, according to the school district's calendar. Classes had not begun yet.

"There were not many students. It is our understanding that there was a breakfast program going on. There may have been students of different grades in school at that time. It was all contained in Perry High School. It is still part of the investigation," Mortvedt said.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds thanked law enforcement and first responders for their fast response to a shooting at Perry High School on Thursday.

Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante previously said authorities were notified of an active shooter at 7:37 a.m. local time and arrived on the scene within seven minutes.

Multiple people were wounded in the shooting, officials said.

The governor said she is working to continue to gather more details about what happened in order to prevent another shooting.

Senior White House staff has been in touch with the Iowa governor’s office, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier.