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What We Know About the Iowa School Shooter

Mia Cathell
Mia Cathell  |  January 04, 2024 5:00 PM

The now-deceased suspected gunman who shot at least six victims—killing one, a sixth-grade middle schooler—at a small-town high school in Perry, Iowa, early Thursday morning has been identified by authorities as 17-year-old student Dylan "DJ" Butler.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assistant director Mitch Mortvedt confirmed at an afternoon press conference that Butler "made a number of social media posts in and around the time of the shooting." Investigators are working to "secure" those pieces of evidence, Mortvedt said. When asked about footage circulating online, Mortvedt said he hadn't seen the video in question.

According to a since-deactivated TikTok profile that many are claiming belong to Butler, the last TikTok video posted to the page @tooktoomuch featured a selfie taken inside what looks like a school bathroom stall moments before the shooting happened.

"[N]ow we wait," read the clip's caption as the rock band KMFDM's song "Stray Bullet," which was infamously referenced on the personal website of Columbine shooter Eric Harris, played in the background. A blue duffle bag sat on the ground next to a toilet.

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An emoji of the gay Pride flag was featured in the TikTok page's bio and an image of an anime girl was selected as the profile's avatar. In another TikTok video, the account used the hashtag "genderfluid." Using an identical profile picture on Instagram, user @DylanSayWhat212 identified as trans non-binary with "he/they" pronouns. However, the account has also since been scrubbed.

According to a series of Reddit posts that Butler appears to have authored, he interacted with transgender and "femboy" forums. 

In response to the question "For those who haven't started transitioning yet. What's holding you back?" posted to the r/Trans subreddit, the username u/Dylanpickle1996 replied, "I don't want to look ugly." Other replies were comments on pornographic ocntent. Over on the platform X, formerly Twitter, the since-suspended account @DylanSayWhat212, under the screenname "Dylan Jesse," professed his love for My Little Pony and "f*cking furries" while replying to a Happy Pride Month post. Officials have yet to verify these social media posts—all of which were subsequently deleted in the aftermath of Thursday's tragedy.

Butler is believed to have acted alone. The shooting suspect was armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun. During a search of the school, authorities additionally located an "improvised," "rudimentary" explosive device, which was rendered "safe" by the state fire marshall and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The federal agency's Kansas City Field Division also acknowledged it responded to the active-shooting situation in a post to X's platform.

The active shooting started at approximately 7:37 a.m. CT as students were returning to classes on the first day of school since winter break. A breakfast program serving mixed grades was taking place at Perry High School on the Perry Community School District campus, which also houses the middle and elementary schools. Within seven minutes, emergency responders arrived on the scene. Once inside, Perry Police officers quickly found the shooter shot dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Four students and a member of the school administration are among the five gunshot victims wounded in the rampage. Des Mointe-based NBC affiliate WHO 13 has learned that the injured school administrator is longtime Perry High School principal Dan Marburger. Of the survivors, four are in stable condition and one reportedly remains in critical but not life-threatening condition.

"We're just now working backwards, trying to figure out everything that happened..." Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said in an initial statement providing preliminary information to reporters. At the time, he declined to disclose the identity of the shooter.

Commenting on news of the incident as it broke, Perry Community School District board president Linda Andorf told NBC News in a press statement: "It is horrendously awful. People need to figure out their life. This is just disgusting. It's terrible."

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents from the Omaha-Des Moines office are assisting with the investigation led by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the school shooting, AP reported.

Mortvedt described the law enforcement response as "swift and immediate," noting that roughly150 officers from local, state, and federal agencies responded within the hour. The multi-agency investigation is ongoing. Classes are cancelled Friday, the school district announced. President Joe Biden is currently "tracking" developments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Thursday's press briefing, adding that senior White House staff have "been in touch" with the Iowa governor's office.