Perry, Iowa —
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 as students barricaded in offices and fled in panic.
The suspect, a student at the school in Perry, died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and at least one of the victims is a school administrator, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Perry has about 8,000 residents and is about 64 kilometers 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 town.
Perry High School senior Ava Augustus said she was waiting in a counselor’s when she heard three shots. She and other people barricaded the door, preparing to throw things, if necessary, with a window being too small for an escape.
"And then we hear ‘He’s 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’re taking a girl out of the auditorium who had been shot in her leg."
